- Prior 57.2
- New orders 58.2 vs 58.1
- Composite 53.3 vs 53.5 exp. Prior 53.5
- New orders 57.7 vs 57.5
Cable takes a slap down to 1.5339 from 1.5353
New business rising helps the stop the report from being really bad, as does employment which jumps at the second highest rate on record. On the inflation front input and output prices rise sharply.
Good news too for exports notes David Noble at CIPS
"The services sector has a spring in its step as it continues on a firm footing in February. "Sharper growth in new business has been driven by an upward swing of activity in both the domestic and international markets, with a mix of new business and higher levels of interest from existing customers showing an overall improvement. "At a modest level, the sector has become a victim of its own success as the resultant rise in incoming new business has increased pressure on capacity capability: outstanding work has been rising now for the last couple of years. The protracted length of backlog accumulation indicates that the recovery may now be sustainable following the rapid growth of last year"
Certainly the underlying details paint a better picture than the headline. If the market reads those the fall in cable my not last. The flipside is that there's plenty of pressure coming in from other pairs and crosses so the headline number may just be the trigger sellers were looking for
UK services PMI
