Pound to US Dollar (GBP/USD) Exchange Rate remains supported by construction data

The Pound remained firmer against the US Dollar even though a jobs report out of the USA showed that the world’s largest economy is recovering from the winter’s harsh weather.

According to the ADP Research Institute based in Roseland New Jersey US based companies increased their payrolls by 191,000 in March, a rise from the revised 178,000 gain recorded in February. Economists had been calling for a figure of 195,000. ADP said that small businesses added 72,000 jobs, mid-size ones, 52,000 and large companies, 67,000.

The report increased speculation that US data will continue to improve as extreme winter weather recedes. The heavy snow and arctic temperatures had a negative impact upon consumers and businesses alike.

“We’re starting to see the recovery in the data that we’ve been hoping for. This is going to provide policy makers and market participants alike a modicum of confidence that the data swoon over the last couple of months is weather-related and not a sign of something more ominous,” said an economist at Deutsche Bank Securities.

Sterling held onto its earlier gains from a report which showed that construction activity in the UK continued to perform strongly in March. According to Markit’s Construction PMI, activity softened slightly to 62.5 in March but remains close to the previous month’s strong figure of 62.6.

Against the Euro the ‘Greenback’ climbed to a session high as the single currency remained under pressure from data released earlier in the session which showed that Eurozone producer price inflation fell in February, increasing pressure upon the European Central Bank to introduce stimulus measures to stave off the threat of deflation.

The US Dollar could make further gains on Thursday if balance of trade, jobless claims and ISM manufacturing data come in positively.