In testimony to the Treasury Select Committee, new Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) member Hogg stayed close to the bank’s recent script and there was no market impact.
There was choppy trading surrounding the Afternoon fix, but the UK currency was unable to gain sustained support, especially with real yields continuing to move against Sterling. The Euro edged towards 0.8550 on the day and the UK currency was unable to hold above 1.2450 against the dollar.
Scottish First Minister Sturgeon stated that a new independence referendum may be the only way for Scotland, maintaining a significant element of market unease surrounding the political outlook and the government could face defeat on in the House of Lords on an amendment to the Brexit Bill. Dollar developments dominated as Sterling retreated to below 1.24.
The latest PMI data will be watched closely on Wednesday while shop prices fell 1.0% in the year to February.01/03
Gold Another week and another high for Gold at $3045. It’s not just the fear factor that leads investors to buy Gold, it’s the Central Bank buying in a bid to diversify away from USD. In the past 3 years, that buying has amounted to over 1000 tons led by China and India, but also other […]
Uncertainty and GBP This is the word that dominates market thinking at present. No surprise that like the US Federal Reserve, the Bank of England left UK interest rates unchanged with that uncertainty overshadowing all markets plus the expectation of UK inflation rising from its current 3% rather than falling to the target of 2%. […]
OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development slashed their forecast for 2025 EU growth this week from 1.3% to 1.0%. Germany with slated growth of just 0.4% down from 0.7% was described with a rare touch of OECD humour as the weakest link. While better described as the prime culprit, the effect of flaccid […]