GBP/USD Unable to Break Resistance Despite Upbeat Manufacturing PMI

Manufacturing PMI in the UK exceeded expectations and rose from 48.6 to 49.8 points. No change was expected.

GBP/USD was able to climb to higher ground and reach 1.5590 but couldn’t make it to 1.56, which served as a support line many times in the past, and now works as resistance.

1.55 serves as support. For more lines, see the GBPUSD forecast.

Markit, that released the report, stated that the UK manufacturing will be “less of a drag” on the UK economy. These words are not so positive. Indeed, a score of 49.8 is still in contraction territory: 50 separates between growth and contraction.

The services sector is the UK’s biggest and it has remained positive in recent months. After suffering a downfall earlier in the year, the pound managed to stabilize and later rise thanks to a better than expected GDP figure: the economy grew by 0.3% in Q1 2013, according to the first release.

Live chart of GBP/USD: