A strong U.S. Dollar Index over the last 24h, which hit a 48-day high today of 101.97, coupled with a weaker-than-expected Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI reading of 54.6, pushed the GBP/USD currency pair to a 37-day low of 1.22801 on Wednesday.
The February CIPS PMI reading - based on answers received from purchasing executives from over 600 companies in the UK - indicates that UK manufacturing output grew, however, surveyed managers said domestic demand was weaker, while foreign demand showed “sharp acceleration.”
Although a PMI reading above 50 indicates economic expansion, February’s reading was lower by 0.9 points compared to January’s PMI reading of 55.7.
“The big question remains as to whether robust growth can be sustained or whether it will continue to wane in the coming months.,” said Rob Dobson, Senior Economist at IHS Markit.
The pound finished lower by 0.72% against the U.S. dollar on Wednesday, closing at 1.22923. Including today's losses, the British pound has dipped a total of 1.36% since the start of the week:
Today, the British pound also lost ground against digital currency, Bitcoin. At 12:30 a.m. EST, the BTC/GBP pair rallied to an all-time high of £1151.08 (~$1424.11 at GBP/USD rate of 1.2372) on American exchange GDAX, owned and operated by San Francisco-based firm, Coinbase.
At that time, BTC/GBP was trading with a $224 premium over the BTC/USD rate, which was floating at $1200 on GDAX.
Pounds photo by TaxRebate.org.uk
