English woes for the market open

For the most part last week currency action continued to be confined to fairly narrow ranges with a backdrop of Covid variants still causing concern. The USD saw some gains but this was chipped away with EUR/USD and GBP/USD both finishing the week in a relatively similar position to where they started.

As we get going this morning, EUR/USD opens near to the midpoint of $1.18-1.19. Meanwhile, GBP/USD remains within the $1.38-1.39 band, although it has managed to push to the upper quarter of this band. EUR/GBP continues to move within the 85-86p trading range.

Focusing ahead to this week, there are some notable data releases:

•  From the US, the key releases include retail sales and CPI data for June.

•  In the UK, the main highlight is a raft of labour market data for May.

•  In contrast, the Eurozone diary is quiet. 

 Overall, from a currency viewpoint, the main pairs could continue to trade within fairly tight ranges, with Covid still causing concern in the markets.