On the face of it the latest figures from the manufacturing sector suggest an improvement for the month of September, but if you dig a little deeper it is readily apparent that this is a somewhat misleading view and underlying activity remains subdued at best.
The headline PMI rose to a 4-month high of 48.3, above both the consensus forecast (7.0) and the prior reading (47.4) but this is largely due to a rise in purchasing and input stocks as Brexit preparations start once more. Worryingly, several key indicators such as new orders, output and employment all fell further and any improvement in the headline reading can be explained away as a one-off Brexit related quirk rather than any real improvement in the sector .
Earlier, comments from PM Boris Johnson gave the pound a small fleeting lift, but the attention remains very much on his eagerly anticipated speech from the Tory party conference. The PM is expected to reveal his latest Brexit strategy and while it is not quite a binary decision, traders will be watching closely for which side of the dichotomy between pursuing a no-deal Brexit or a solution on the customs arrangement surrounding the Irish border as the primary focus going forward.