UK August services sector PMI reading now out 5 Sept

  • weakest reading since Sept 2016
  • 53.8 prev
  • composite 54.0 vs 54.0 exp vs 54.01 prev
  • lowest since February
  • services PMI hiring component on 19-month high
  • UK PMIs suggesting Q3 GDP at 0.3% with momentum being lost say Markit

A slight miss on expectations/prev sees GBPUSD lower at 1.2911 and EURGBP back up to 0.9200 with option expiries also magnetizing.

GBPUSD demand expected into 1.2900 so shorts might want to take some profit and look to re-sell on a bounce.

Says Markit:

  • UK service providers recorded solid rises in business activity and incoming new work during August, but rates of growth eased since July and remained notably weaker than seen on average in the first half of 2017.
  • The latest survey also pointed to stronger cost pressures across the service sector, with the rate of input price inflation the fastest since February. Higher staff costs, fuel bills and prices for imported items contributed to another solid increase in average prices charged by service providers in August.

Full report here

Other data also just out:

UK official reserves changes August $1603m vs $1273m prev

UK Services PMI