A small miss on Markit’s construction PMI, with 51.2 points, reflecting minimal growth. This is still above the manufacturing sector, but nothing to write home about.

GBP/USD is bouncing just a bit on a seemingly “buy the rumor, sell the fact” reaction: the pair dropped ahead of the publication.

The UK’s construction PMI was expected to stand on 52 points in May, for the second month in a row. The construction sector led the UK recovery that has sometimes been described as “unbalanced”. However, this indicator has also dropped alongside other PMIs and eventually fell behind the services PMI.

GBP/USD traded around 1.14430 ahead of the publication, off the lows it fell to in recent days after some polls showed momentum for the Brexit campaign but we did see cable front-run the publication with a small slide.

The construction purchasing managers’ index is the second out of three. Yesterday the manufacturing PMI returned to growth. Tomorrow we get the services PMI

Here is the chart: