The United Kingdom (UK) S&P Global Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) expands at a moderate pace to 51.7 in September. The data was already anticipated to arrive lower at 52.0 from 52.5 in August.

Weak UK Services PMI led to a slowdown in the overall business activity. The Composite PMI dropped to 51.7 from 52.5 in August.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing sector activity remained strong. The Manufacturing PMI rises to 52.0 from the previous reading of 51.7. The data was expected to arrive lower at 51.4.

“September is seeing a worrying combination of disappointingly sluggish economic growth and intensifying inflationary pressures, with subdued business confidence and high costs meanwhile continuing to discourage hiring,” Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence said.

Market reaction

There is a decent recovery in the British Pound (GBP) against the US Dollar (USD) after the data release. However, the rebound appears to be majorly driven by a slight correction in the US Dollar Index (DXY) from its fresh seven-week high of 100.86. Still, GBP/USD is down, trading 0.27% lower at around 1.3307.