Pound Weakness Continues as 1.5000 Comes Into View

A probative night of trade in the currency market during the first session of the week as risk FX tested key levels in late Asia on the weaker than expected Chinese PMI data only to recover some ground after EZ results beat forecasts. Chinese PMI Manufacturing which printed at 52.2 versus 55.4 the moth prior caused a flurry of selling as traders became concerned about the strength of the economic recovery in Asia Pacific. This was the second consecutive month of weaker than expected results and although many analysts dismissed the data as being seasonally affected by the Chinese New Year, we noted that,” he fact remains that Chinese manufacturing production has slowed materially since the start of the year casting doubt on the strength of the global economic recovery story.”