British pound jumped to session highs versus US dollar on upbeat Services CIPS

British pound registered a sharp advance against the US dollar on Wednesday, following the release of stronger than expected data, regarding activity in the UK sector of services in June.

GBP/USD pair hit a session high at 1.5246 at 9:03 GMT. Consolidation followed at 1.5229. Support was expected at current session low, 1.5128, while resistance was to be encountered at June 28th high, 1.5239.

Minutes ago Markit in cooperation with the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS) reported, that Services PMI in the United Kingdom registered a jump to 27-month high at 56.9 in June, far above expectations of a reading of 54.5, while in May the reading showed 54.9. Activity in the sector of services rose at the fastest pace since March 2011, easing down concerns over British economy outlook. Values above 50.0 are a signal for expansion. New orders indicator, which caused influence on the results the most, rose at the fastest rate since June 2007. Markit officials commented that the buoyant picture for June showed British economy was on course to expand by at least 0.5% in the second quarter of this year. Outlook also showed this trend could continue in the future. “With growth this strong it’s hard to see how any of the members of the Monetary Policy Committee could make a case for further quantitative easing”, said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, cited by Investing.com.

Additionally, on Monday manufacturing PMI in the UK stated an activity expansion in the sector at the highest rate in over two years in the month of June. Meanwhile, the Bank of England is due to conduct its monthly policy meeting this Thursday.

Elsewhere, pound advanced to session highs against the euro as well, with EUR/GBP cross sliding 0.60% to 0.8511. Business activity results in the Euro zone spoke of uneven recovery. The Final Services PMI in the single currency zone fell to 48.3 in June from 48.6 in the preceding month. German Final Services PMI slowed down in June as well, showing 50.4, down from 51.3 in May. On the other hand, in France the Final Services PMI managed to advance to 47.2 in June from 46.5 in May, while in Spain it surprisingly rose to 47.8 in June from 47.3 a month ago.