British Pound (FXB) Jumps After PMI Data

The British Pound (GBP) received further boost during the European trading hours today, as the March purchasing manager index for service sector beat the expectations coming out at 57.1, the highest level for more than a year. It is significantly higher than February's 52.6 and the general forecast was for an unchanged index for last month. The positive number comes in after yesterday's positive March PMI construction index, which also was surprisingly upbeat at 56.4 against the overall expectations of 54.8. The bullish data triggered an impressive Pound rally, as investors once again are becoming optimistic over a near term rate hike by the Bank of England. Adding to the rally was the report, that Citigroup advised buying the British currency against the Euro, citing higher credit risk in Euro zone compared to the British economy and expectations that the interest rates will not differ a lot between the two central banks. After the data, the British currency soared against the US Dollar (USD), as the GBP/USD hit a two week high, moving higher from 1.61 to 1.6265, where the currency pair has hit a resistance and is currently hovering just under that level. The Pound rallied strongly against its European major counterparts as well, namely against the Euro (EUR) and the Swiss Franc (CHF) while hitting an eight month high against the Japanese Yen (JPY). The EUR/GBP dropped from 0.88 to 0.8716 and the GBP/CHF jumped from 1.4870 all the way to as high as 1.5047. The GBP/JPY, meanwhile, skyrocketed from 135.75 to 137.50 and continues to rally at the moment.