The pound sterling was given a lift on the back of some upbeat manufacturing data and better than expected credit statistics on Monday.
The UK manufacturing PMI surged to 54.1 in December, above calls for an improvement to 52.0 from 51.8 the month prior.
The data implies an acceleration in manufacturing activity for the UK with any reading above the 50-point threshold implying economic growth.
Details of the report were also strong, with the new orders index at its highest level in 29 months and the decline in jobs the slowest since May 2008.
Released simultaneously, UK net consumer credit fell £0.4 billion in November, less than calls for a £0.5 billion decline and prior £0.6 billion shortfall.
The move was led by an increase in mortgage lending for the month, which picked up to £1.5 billion compared to the previous month’s £1.1 billion level. Expectations had been for lending to total £1.0 billion.
Meanwhile, mortgage approvals rose to 60.5k from 57.7k the month prior, further than calls for a 58.0k pickup.
In line with the better than expected results, GBP/USD picked up 41 pips to 1.6210 before hitting new intraday highs at 1.6241. Short term resistance lies at 1.6248 with support at 1.5833.
By Erik Franco, erikf@fxtraderacademy.com
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