US: MBA Mortgage Applications rose 1.8% in April-26 week

The UK manufacturing PMI came in at 49.8 in April, following 48.6 in March and above consensus of 48.5. TD securities analysts commented: “Details of the report showed that the improvement was driven by an uptick in new export orders from everywhere but the Eurozone, while employment continued to contract”, wrote analyst Marcin Budkiewicz. “While producers did see some lower prices, they also reported that the weakness in sterling was pushing up some prices, a theme we think will be echoed in the May Inflation Report and the reason why the MPC does not want to talk GBP any lower at the moment”, Budkiewicz added.