Bullish Forecast For The Pound

According to Swiss investment bank Credit Suisse, pound sterling has already breached the forecasted target against the Euro, leading to a re-adjustment of targets whilst affirming their bullish stance on the UK currency against its continental rival in 2022.

The pound is the top performing major currency of the new year, aided by benign investor sentiment, expectations the Omicron wave is less severe than previous waves and expectations the Bank of England will hike interest rates on numerous occasions in 2022.

In level terms, the GBP/USD opens this morning just above the 1.3530 whilst GBP/EUR continues its strong start to the year to trade circa 1.1970. The EUR/USD still trades within its narrow November beginning range to open just above the 1.13 mark. 

Datawise, the main data highlight of the week comes the latest official US labour market data for December.. Non-farm payrolls are expected to rise by 400k, although there are upside risks to the consensus, with both the ADP and Homebase employment data suggesting a larger increase. The unemployment rate is forecast to edge lower to 4.1% from 4.2% also.