For today, UK construction PMI may receive some attention, coming after yesterday's astonishingly strong manufacturing report and before tomorrow's more eagerly awaited services PMI. Last month saw a surprisingly strong construction survey, with the headline total activity index rising to 59.9 from 57.3, buoyed especially by the residential and commercial sectors. A pullback is likely to around 58.6 in October, but this would still be well above the 50 growth/contraction level, states Lloyds Bank.
It is expected to be a relatively quiet day, at least in terms of scheduled economic events. Markets instead will look ahead to the remainder of the week, in particular, tomorrow's UK services PMI report, 'Super Thursday' with the Bank of England policy decision, minutes and the Quarterly Inflation Report released simultaneously and Friday's US employment report.
Elsewhere, US factory orders for September are expected to show a second consecutive monthly fall, providing further evidence of weakening momentum towards the end of the quarter. Durable goods orders, released last week, showed a monthly fall of 1.2% in September, admittedly pulled lower mostly by lumpy transport orders. Nevertheless, non-transport durable orders also contracted. Today's factory orders report will include non-durable goods orders, which are expected to hold up rather better. Hence, a small monthly decline of around 0.6% is expected in total factory orders, added Lloyds Bank.
