UK POUND EASES BELOW $1.28; BOE RATE DECISION IN FOCUS

Published on Mar 21, 2024 16:07

UK Pound is paring some of its sharp gains registered earlier in the day against the dollar. GBPUSD is easing from a one-week high on Thursday after release of mixed set of UK data. The seasonally adjusted S&P Global/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers� Index (PMI) improved sharply from 47.5 in February to 49.9 in March, above the estimated 47.8 reading. Meanwhile, the Preliminary UK Services Business Activity Index declined to 53.4 in March, missing the market forecast of 53.8. The previous figure was 53.8. The pair is currently off intraday highs above $1.28 mark and is quoting at $1.2789, marginally unchanged on the day. The dollar index dropped below 103 mark after dovish FOMC outcome yesterday but is seen gathering mild momentum at 103.07 at the time of writing. All eyes are now glued to BoE monetary policy summary to understand the central bank�s stance on interest rates after UK inflation slowed to its lowest level in almost two and half years. On the NSE, GBPINR almost came off intraday highs and settled for the day at 106.18, up half a percent on the day.