S&P Global Manufacturing PMI

What it is

The S&P Global / CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI surveys senior purchasing executives across UK manufacturers on output, new orders, employment, supplier delivery times and stocks of purchases, and combines these components into a single weighted diffusion index. A reading above 50 signals expansion in the factory sector compared with the previous month, while a reading below 50 signals contraction. A flash estimate, based on most of the month's survey responses, is published in the final weeks of the reference month and then revised into this final print on the first business day of the following month.

Why it matters to traders

Manufacturing is one of the more cyclical parts of the UK economy, so traders read this survey as an early gauge of business conditions. Movement in either direction is often watched as closely as the level. Because this final reading revises the flash estimate published late in the previous month, sterling usually moves only when the final differs meaningfully from the flash or from the forecast. Traders read such surprises, along with the prices and employment components, for what they may imply about the Bank of England's policy outlook.

Trade the reaction across the major currency pairs, world indices and commodities, follow the story in market news, and record your setup in the FXMARE trading journal.