Posts
GBP The Bank of England’s Mark Carney stated that anaemic wage growth and mixed signals on consumer spending and business investment meant “now was not the time to raise interest rates”. The dovish rhetoric undermined Sterling as it countered speculation triggered by last week’s 5-3 interest rate vote. Carney also stated…
GBP Friday saw further speculation over a shift in Brexit negotiating stance. There was talk of a possible transitional move to remain in the customs union in order to avoid trade disruption, although such a deal would preclude new trade agreements outside the EU. Sterling hit resistance close to 1.2800 against…
GBP UK retail sales data printed a 1.2% decline for May, more than the forecasted 0.8% decline, with annual sales growth held to 0.9%. Underlying prices rose at the fastest pace since March 2012, reinforcing the Bank of England’s “catch 22” with weaker growth and higher inflation. There was no change…
GBP Sterling gained 0.2% against the Dollar and Euro yesterday after Prime Minister Theresa May struck a deal to prop up her minority government. The Conservative’s secured the backing of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and its ten lawmakers, concluding two weeks of talks since May lost her majority in…
GBP The UK unemployment rate held at 4.6% in the three months to April, equalling a 42-year high, maintaining confidence in the labour market. The main focus was on average earnings data with year-on-year growth declining to 2.1% from a revised 2.3%; a 12-month low. The data increased concerns over…
Recent nervousness and concerns over China are filtering through to the wider global economy as yesterday saw lacklustre services data not just from the US, but the Eurozone and in particular the UK which saw its lowest reading for the services PMI since May 2013. Sterling was subjected to fresh…
GBP/USD opened at 1.5385 in the European session yesterday, dropping to a low of 1.5351 before recovering slightly in the NY session to trade around 1.5380. GBP/EUR opened at 1.3777 and just breached 1.3800 by lunchtime before closing at 1.3753. A relatively flat trading day by recent standards. UK trade…
GBPConcerns that Brexit negotiations would extend beyond the end of October and eventually fail to produce a future trade deal dominated Friday. The Pound failed to make meaningful headway against a fragile US Dollar and the Euro strengthened to 11-month highs near 1.1050. CFTC data revealed a further increase…
Sterling’s jump after the announcement of the new government proved to be short lived. Although the Pound did jump up almost 2c against the Dollar after the government was formed, it soon started to drift down, and even the charm offensive that Cameron and Clegg went on yesterday didn’t help….