Forex Flash: BoE expected to hold off on UK PMI and January data – TD Securities

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Better domestic factors strengthen the UK PMI manufacturing figure to 51.4 in December, beating market consensus for an unchanged print at 49.1. External demand remains contractionary, "but the domestic gains were fairly broad-based, as new orders improved for the second month in a row, employment was the best in four months, and output expanded at the fastest pace in 20 months", wrote analyst Richard Kelly, not changing the fact that GDP growth in Q4 was, at best, flat.

However, data releases in January may keep the BoE from tweeking its policy: "While many in the market continue to expect the BoE to resume asset purchases in February, today's data supports our belief that the data over the next month will be just good enough to keep the BoE on the sidelines", Kelly added.