Manufacturing production in the UK dropped by 0.2%. Early expectations stood on no change in output. Industrial output dropped by 0.6%. Early expectations stood on a rise of 0.1%.
GBP/USD is sliding below 1.53. It already slid towards strong support at 1.5271 earlier. It made a rebound from there and traded above 1.53 just prior to the publication.
According to the initial release, October saw a drop of 0.7% in production, lower than expected. The purchasing managers’ index strengthened in December, but still remained in contraction zone, under 50 points.
The big event of the day for the pound is the rate decision. The Monetary Policy Committee is expected to leave the interest rate unchanged and also leave the current size of the Asset Purchase Facility unchanged. British QE is currently at a capacity of 275 billion pounds.
This means that the euro-zone rate decision will outshine the British one. The ECB’s Draghi isn’t expected to make any changes, but his press conference could trigger a sell-off. See more in the ECB preview.
