Pound Down as Construction in Britain Slows

The Great Britain pound erased its gains versus the US dollar and fell against the Japanese yen today after the report showed that UK construction growth slowed last month.

The Markit/CIPS UK Construction PMI was down from 53.2 in December to 51.4 in January. The expected value was 52.8. The report followed yesterday's unfavorable data about UK housing market: the Nationwide HPI dropped 0.2 percent last month. The manufacturing PMI, on the other hand, rose from 49.7 to 52.1 in January (month-on-month), while the median forecast was 50.1.

GBP/USD traded near opening of 1.5832 as of 10:19 GMT today, following the advance to 1.5857. GBP/JPY fell from 120.65 to 120.50.