European markets welcome a whole raft of positive data this Wednesday as UK service sector growth picks up; Britain’s car market enjoys strongest month ever and Eurozone businesses grow at the fastest rate for nearly six years.
Britain’s service sector posted its strongest growth of the year. Business activity growth hit a three-month high in March, driven by a pick-up in new work according to data firm Markit after a slowdown in the winter months. Optimism was expressed for the year ahead from bosses surveyed, with almost half forecasting growth while only one-in-nine expect a fall in activity.
As a consequence, Sterling jumped almost half a cent against the dollar after the survey was published, rising to $1.2489 from around $1.2440 beforehand. The daily chart of the pound against the dollar now shows a pennant pattern, with any break to the upside likely to mean further gains for sterling.
Also, UK car sales hit record levels, smashing all records going back to the 1976, beating the previous record in August 1997. And in another report by IHS Market, Eurozone businesses grew at the fastest rate for nearly six years in March, led by German and French growth.
Looking ahead to Thursday in Europe there’s Germany factory orders and a number of UK listed companies are set to go ex-dividend on the open with Lloyds banking stocks, Aviva, John Wood Group, Pearson and BBA Aviation on the list.
--- Written by Katie Pilbeam, DailyFX
