Pound in focus again with release of construction PMI data 7.45am BST Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of the world economy, the financial markets, the eurozone and business.European stock markets held up surprisingly well on Monday despite weaker Chinese data which put more pressure on commodities and the sharp sell-off on the Greek stock market when it reopened after a five-week shutdown . The severity of the decline suggests that any bailout is likely to come in well above the €86bn numbers being bandied about, which in turn is likely to make any discussions about debt relief even more contentious. Any increase in tensions as we get closer to the €3.2bn ECB repayment date on 20 August is likely to see Greek banks come under further pressure in the coming days.Weak Chinese manufacturing numbers triggered a sell-off in Asian stock markets and sent commodities lower. Brent crude dropped below $50 a barrel for the first time since January. Commodity prices have been suffering because China is the world’s biggest consumer.The pound will be in focus once again today with the release of the latest construction PMI data for July, in the wake of yesterday’s rebound in the manufacturing PMI from a two year low.Expectations are for the construction sector to improve from 58.1 to 58.6, in the process shifting the focus to this week’s latest Thursday trifecta of Bank of England rate meeting, minutes and inflation report. Continue reading...
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