On Monday the pound sterling was slightly lower against the dollar after data
signaled that activity in the U.K. manufacturing sector expanded a little
last month but remained relatively quiet.
GBP/USD dropped 0.06% to 1.5614 following the report from around 1.5618 earlier.
“Although an uptick in the headline PMI breaks the decelerating trend in UK manufacturing, growth remains near-stagnant and suggests that the sector is continuing to act as a drag on the economy," Rob Dobson, senior economist at survey compiler Markit said.
Earlier Monday, research body Markit said U.K. manufacturing purchasing managers' index climbed to 51.9 last month from 51.4 in June, which was the lowest level in over two years. Analysts had expected a reading of 51.6.
The rate of growth in new orders edged lower to hit a ten-month low, as solid demand from the domestic market contrasted with a further decline in new export business.
New export orders in July dipped for the fourth straight month, mainly due to the sterling-euro exchange rate hitting competitiveness in euro zone markets.
So far this year, sterling has risen almost 10% against the shared currency.
EUR/GBP was last at 0.7022, little changed from before the report.
In the euro area, data published earlier indicated that the manufacturing sector continued to rise at a steady pace at the beginning of the third quarter.
Germany, Spain and Italy continued to expand and managed to offset a huge contraction of the Greek manufacturing sector in July after capital controls were imposed to evade a collapse of the country's financial system.
EUR/USD was slightly lower, losing 0.03% to touch 1.0965.
