London - The pound dropped for the first time in three days against the dollar as UK manufacturing growth unexpectedly cooled for a third month in March.
IHS Markit’s factory Purchasing Managers Index declined to 54.2 from a revised 54.5 in February, above the key 50 level that divides expansion from contraction, but below economists’ expectations for an increase to 55.
Sterling halted a three-day advance versus the euro and weakened against all but one of its Group-of-10 peers.
This week’s data, ranging from services PMI to industrial output, may help provide clues on whether the fallout from Britain’s vote last year to leave the European Union is now beginning to show in the numbers.
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