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Sterling suffered further month-end selling yesterday, falling to lows near 1.2400 against the Dollar and falling just below 1.1600 against the Euro. UK Consumer Credit rose by just £1bn to £193bn in December, the smallest monthly increase since May 2015. The news will be of some comfort to Bank of…
Sterling experienced month-end selling pressure yesterday which combined with a more fragile risk appetite to cause a fresh retreat towards 1.2500 against the Dollar and 1.1765 against the Euro. UK consumer confidence, whilst still negative, improved to -5 for January from -7 previously, although there were still underlying concerns that…
The UK economy grew by 0.6% in the last quarter of 2016, beating expectations of a 0.5% advance, even accelerating in the second half of the year when compared to the first half. After rallying to a fresh monthly high of 1.2670, GBPUSD retreated at the end of last week,…
The government published its Article 50 legislation yesterday in a mere 137 words, although the overall impact was limited. The markets were somewhat distracted by Theresa May’s first meeting with President Trump in the White House today. There were ‘nervous’ comments from EU officials stressing that EU members can only…
The Pound’s rally continues as investors expect a bigger role for parliament in Brexit preparations, triggering a short squeeze (buying a currency to cancel bets that the price was going to fall). Theresa May has also agreed to publish a white paper detailing the government’s Brexit intentions. The Pound reached…
Yesterday’s main event was the Supreme Court ruling and Sterling rallied in the build up, peaking at 1.1673 against the Euro as news broke that the government had lost its appeal to trigger Article 50 without parliamentary approval. The subsequent fall in the Pound confounded some as typically the UK…
Sterling benefitted from a more positive tone surrounding the Brexit negotiations following a broadly favourable response to the Prime Minister May’s speech on Brexit last week. Sterling tested resistance above the 1.2500 level for the first time in over five weeks and pushed as high as 1.1630 against the Euro….
The latest UK retail sales data was much weaker than expected, falling 1.9% in December. The data undermined near-term confidence in the UK economic outlook . There was also evidence of rising prices in the data which maintained concerns that higher inflation would curb consumer spending during 2017. Sterling came…
Theresa May, speaking before world leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, continued to pledge that the UK would play a greater role in global trade and push for new deals after the EU exit. As the tone and rhetoric matched Tuesday’s press conference there was limited impact on…
Investors took a more cautious approach to Sterling yesterday which reflects that they foresee Brexit-related difficulties ahead, especially with uncertainties over the reaction of EU countries. The Supreme Court has announced that the government will learn next Tuesday whether it has won its legal battle to get Brexit under way…