GBP / USD
On Wednesday, the British pound lost 38 points under pressure from the dollar, as the greens gained 0.31% on the USDX index. The business activity index in the construction sector of the UK (Construction PMI) in April rose to 52.5 from 47.0 in March, but the continuing expectations of a threefold increase in the Fed rate and the loss of the May rate hike by the Bank of England overcame this local positive. Also, the US private sector shows 204,000 new jobs were created in April against expectations of 200,000 in the ADP estimate, although the March figure was revised downward from 241,000 to 228,000. Optimistic outlook for Friday nonfarm (forecast 189,000) are unchanged.
The UK data for this day is not yet received. The US forecasts are quite good, especially in terms of labor. Thus, labor costs in the first quarter may show an increase of 3.1% and labor productivity outside the agricultural sector in the same period is expected to increase by 0.9% versus 0.0% in the 4th quarter.We are expecting the British pound at 1.3510 and 1.3435.
* The presented market analysis is informative and does not constitute a guide to the transaction.
