{"id":22809,"date":"2025-05-22T10:25:02","date_gmt":"2025-05-22T10:25:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/?p=22809"},"modified":"2025-05-22T10:25:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-22T10:25:02","slug":"sterling-slides-as-uk-pmi-disappoints","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/analysis\/sterling-slides-as-uk-pmi-disappoints\/","title":{"rendered":"Sterling Slides as UK PMI Disappoints"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"559\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2026\/03\/gbp7-1024x559.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-17037\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key Points<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>UK Composite PMI dips to 49.4 vs. 50.8 expected.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sterling pares earlier gains, now trading around $1.3399.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>S&amp;P warns of softening inflation and job market, leaving BoE open to cuts.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots\"\/>\n\n\n\n<p>Sterling reversed earlier gains on Wednesday after the UK\u2019s latest PMI report signalled a surprise contraction in private sector activity, casting fresh doubts over the economic recovery and fuelling expectations of further monetary easing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">The UK private sector contracted again in May as Trump\u2019s tariffs hit demand from abroad, according to a closely watched survey <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/oKaUryYXTG\">https:\/\/t.co\/oKaUryYXTG<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Bloomberg (@business) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/business\/status\/1925478766534402305?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 22, 2025<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>The GBP\/USD pair dropped to a session low of 1.33964 after the S&amp;P Global\/CIPS composite PMI fell to 49.4 in May, down from 48.5 in April. Economists had <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/wu8fhpvRW2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">forecast a rebound<\/a> to 50.8, a threshold that separates growth from contraction. The pound briefly traded as high as 1.3441 before the data but quickly lost momentum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chris Williamson, Chief Economist at S&amp;P Global Market Intelligence, said the report highlighted \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2025\/05\/21\/uk-inflation-surges-to-hotter-than-expected-3point5percent-in-april.html#:~:text=The%20latest%20data%20release%20comes,the%20twelve%20months%20to%20March.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">cooling inflation pressures<\/a>, weakening demand, and rising job losses,\u201d all of which signal that the Bank of England <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/cXuSHEcaay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">may need to cut rates<\/a> to support the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Technical Analysis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>GBP\/USD retreated after peaking at <strong>1.3469<\/strong>, struggling to sustain momentum above the <strong>1.3440<\/strong> resistance level. Despite a sharp early climb, the pair reversed and is now consolidating near <strong>1.3400<\/strong>, closing the session at <strong>1.33988<\/strong>. The MACD histogram has flipped into negative territory with a bearish crossover forming, while moving averages (5, 10, 30) are beginning to flatten and curl lower\u2014suggesting a possible short-term reversal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/27\/2026\/03\/image-24-1024x444.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-22810\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><em>Picture: GBP\/USD slips from 1.3469 peak, with bearish MACD crossover hinting at deeper pullback risk, as seen on the <a href=\"https:\/\/vtmarketsapp.onelink.me\/CD7D\/240525WA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">VT Markets app<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Support at <strong>1.33757<\/strong> is in focus as bearish momentum intensifies. If broken, this level could open the door to <strong>1.3350<\/strong>. On the upside, bulls must reclaim <strong>1.3420<\/strong> and clear <strong>1.3440<\/strong> with conviction to resume the upward trend. Until then, the intraday bias leans cautious, with selling pressure gradually building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading has-medium-font-size\">Cautious Forecast<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>With UK macro data continuing to underwhelm and global risk sentiment fragile, the pound may remain under pressure. While not yet a collapse, GBP\/USD could test deeper support around 1.3350 in coming sessions, especially if dovish BoE rhetoric builds. Thursday\u2019s GfK consumer confidence data and any BoE commentary will be closely watched.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/trade-now\/\">Create your live VT Markets account<\/a><\/strong><strong> and <\/strong><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.vtmarkets.com\/login?_gl=1*1azgbap*_gcl_au*NjE5NTE3MjY4LjE3NDQ2MDA3NDI.*_ga*MTY4OTgwNTU5Mi4xNzM2NzQ2MTgy*_ga_J26NL1ZVX7*czE3NDQ5NDQ0NTYkbzEyMCRnMCR0MTc0NDk0NDQ1NiRqNjAkbDAkaDA.\">start trading<\/a><\/strong><strong> now.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The pound slips to 1.33988 after May&#8217;s PMI unexpectedly signals continued economic contraction. &#8211; vtmarkets.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":64,"featured_media":17037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[10,58],"class_list":["post-22809","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analysis","tag-forex","tag-pound"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":""},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/64"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}