The British pound came under selling pressure as the construction PMI report showed a contraction as the index fell to 47.0 in March. This was below estimates of 50.9 and lower than February’s 51.4. Data from the Eurozone’s flash inflation estimates showed that headline consumer prices rose 1.4% on the year while core CPI was seen rising only 1.0%, less than forecasts.
In the U.S. trading session, the ADP payrolls report showed that the U.S. economy added 241k jobs in the private sector for March. February’s print was also revised higher to show 246k jobs being added. The ISM’s non-manufacturing PMI was a bit weaker at 58.8 just below estimates of 59.0.
Looking ahead, the economic calendar today will see the release of the services PMI data from the Eurozone and the UK. The Eurozone services sector is expected to remain steady at 55.0, unchanged from the previous month. The services sector in the UK is expected to show a decline to 53.9, down from 54.5 that was seen previously.
