On Tuesday, the pair continued its upside direction for the third day before the release of U.S. ISM manufacturing data and minutes of the FOMC meeting as the improvement in the sentiment, following the release of upbeat data from major economies damped demand on the green currency as a refuge.
The improvement in manufacturing data from major Chinese, Indian and Australian economies on Monday managed to offset the contraction for the fifth month in a row for European manufacturing, while on Tuesday, Swiss and U.K. manufacturing figures and German unemployment came better-than-expected to add more positivity to the sentiment.
The pair showed an advance after the release of better-than-estimated manufacturing data from the U.K., where the PMI index came in at 49.6 in December compared with the revised 47.7, which was 47.6 initially, and median estimates of 47.3.
The main focus this week is on manufacturing and services data from major economies, where investors will track the latest developments in major sectors in the fourth quarter on hopes there will be further improvement in the first quarter of 2012.
On Wednesday, at 09:30 GMT, U.K. construction is set to show a drop to 52.0 in Dec. from 52.3 in Nov., according to PMI gauge. At the same time, mortgage approvals, M4 money supply and net lending for Nov. will be due.
Thereafter, eyes will be on U.S. MBA mortgage applications for Dec. 30 at 12:00 GMT, which will be followed by factory orders at 15:00 GMT with expectations referring to a 2.0% rise in Nov. compared with the prior 0.4% drop.
The data is expected to affect the pair’s movement, yet the pair will probably more affected by the general sentiment.
Originally posted here
