Latest data released by Markit - 6 March 2018
- Prior 59.8
A little delay by Markit on the release, but that's a major drop compared to the prior reading.
A drop is not too surprising given that the prior print was the best since 2011, but the headline here is just poor. It's the lowest reading in 13 months.
According to Markit economist Phil Smith here:
"January's spike in construction growth was helped by the unusually mild start to the year, so it was little surprise to see the sector retreat in February as winter weather conditions returned. At 52.7, the seasonally adjusted PMI was the lowest seen for 13 months, but the underlying trend remained strongly positive, and so did many of the survey's other indicators".
EUR/USD not too phased by the report sitting at 1.2343. EUR/GBP at 0.8919, while EUR/CHF is at session highs of 1.1613.
