Dip in manufacturing puts pound under pressure

The pound has remained under pressure during Forex trading this morning (March 10th), hitting a one-week low against both the dollar and the euro.

Its attractiveness to those looking to invest their personal wealth in currencies has reduced, after data revealing British manufacturing fell unexpectedly in January added to the pressures of the possibility of a hung parliament following the upcoming general election, Reuters reports.

Opinion polls published earlier this month revealed that the Conservative Party’s lead against Labour has been cut, raising the possibility that no party will hold the majority of parliamentary seats after the election.

The pound dropped to $1.4873 against its US counterpart before rising slightly to be priced at $1.4890 by 11:30 GMT, while the euro rose 0.6 per cent against the British currency, taking it to 91.24p.

Manufacturing dipped 0.9 per cent in the first month of the year - the sharpest monthly fall since August 2009 - and Ian Stannard of BNP Paribas told the news source that the data provided some ’fairly dour reading with regards to the outlook for sterling’. ADNFCR-2318-ID-19660928-ADNFCR