The British pound showed mixed trading against its major counterparts during Tuesday's early session. The pound pared its Asian session gains against the euro and the franc, but bounced back from an early low against the yen. Against the currency of US, the pound moved sideways after showing strength during Asian session.
The Office for National Statistics said UK's total business investment in the fourth quarter totaled GBP 33.63 billion, down 3.9% sequentially. Economists were looking for a quarterly decrease of 4.2%.
On a yearly basis, business investment dropped 7.7% in the fourth quarter, larger than the 5.5% decline expected by economists.
Two-thirds of UK employers have either experienced an organizational budget cut in 2008 or are about to experience, the latest quarterly CIPD/KPMG survey of 892 employers revealed.
The study found that the budget cut will affect travel, fringe benefits and the opportunity to work overtime in particular which include significant differences between the private, public and voluntary sectors.
In the private sector, 74% of employees reduced their travel expenses, compared with 50% in both the public and voluntary sectors.
The pound bounced back against the Japanese yen after showing weakness during Tuesday's Asian session. The UK currency thus climbed from 136.32 to 139.06 by about 4:20 am ET. The pound-yen pair closed yesterday's trading at 137.10.
UK's sterling weakened to 0.8823 against the euro by about 4:30 am ET Tuesday, after rising to a 2-week high of 0.8731 during today's early Asian session. And against the franc, the sterling dropped from 1.7029 to 1.6768 by about 4:30 am ET. The euro-pound pair and pound-franc pair closed yesterday's deals at 0.8764 and 1.6938, respectively.
The Swiss UBS consumption indicator dropped to 0.99 in January from 1.18 in December, UBS said today. Although the indicator continued to show positive growth in private consumption, it remained below its long-term average of 1.50 for the fourth time in a row, indicating that the prospects for Swiss consumer spending are looking increasingly gloomy.
UBS said the main factor behind the fall in the consumption indicator was an annual fall of 17.5% in new car registrations, one of its five sub-indicators. However, the somewhat brighter consumer sentiment as well as the improved business activity in the retail sector countered a stronger decline. The seasonal increase in domestic overnight stays in hotels by Swiss nationals has also made a positive contribution.
A monthly survey from the Munich-based Ifo Institute for Economic Research showed that German business confidence fell to 82.6 in February from 83 in the prior month. Economists were expecting the indicator to stay unchanged at 83.
Meanwhile, economic think tank ISAE said that Italy's consumer confidence indicator rose to 104.1 in February from 102.6 in January. The improvement in the confidence indicator was unexpected. Economists had forecast a reading of 101.5. Additionally, France's Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Planning and Development said housing starts dropped 20.2% year-on-year in the three months to January, after falling 16% in the previous period.
Another report said that France's seasonally adjusted consumer confidence indicator dropped to minus 43 in February, the statistical office, INSEE said Tuesday. Economists had expected the indicator to remain unchanged at February's revised reading of minus 42.
After a brief downtrend during Tuesday's early Asian deals, the pound traded higher against the US dollar during the later part of the session. However, the pound revered direction during early European deals and has been largely moving sideways since then. As of now, the pair is trading at 1.4494, which may be compared to Monday's closing value of 1.4490.
The U.S. Conference Board is scheduled to release its consumer confidence report for February at 10:00 am ET. The survey, which is based on a survey of 5,000 US households, is expected to show that the consumer confidence index remained unchanged at 36 in February.
Additionally, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is due to deliver his semi-annual testimony before the Senate Banking Committee today.
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May 08, 2026 15:50 ET Manufacturing and services sector survey results and labor market data from main economies were the highlight on the economics news front this week. Factory orders and jobs report dominated the news flow in the U.S. Similarly, industrial production data from German garnered attention in Europe. In Asia, purchasing managers’ survey results from China and the central bank decision from Australia were in focus.