In case you have asked yourselves what the world’s most populous nation, China get up to over their New Year, there is quite a prescriptive programme!
With Asia celebrating Chinese New Year on the eve of the Year of The Pig, markets have seen GBP weaken by a further 0.5 cent against both the USD and EUR and Brexit pressures remain with focus on a solution to the Irish border backstop mechanism. The FTSE has rallied to 7168. The market has not liked the look of the UK service sector and considers it to be stagnating. UK Retail Sales while up at+1.8% Year on Year is not considered to be the sign of a pick up as the belief is still that there will be further bad news on the High Street and implicitly closures and liquidation. Not even the touted idea of Stuart Rose as ex-Chairman of Ocado deciding to put Ocado in his M&S shopping basket was enough to add anything other than to Ocado shares which are just over £10.
No economic releases are due out in the Eurozone and the UK today. US Trade figures will be out later and are expected to show a large deficit. In Australia overnight the Central bank Governor has announced that the next move in AUD interest rates is likely to be downwards and as a result the AUD has weakened sharply.
Last but not least to return to the theme of the UK retail scene: as a sign of the UK High Street’s poor health, yesterday a shopping centre in Kirkaldy, Scotland was put up for auction with a reserve price of just £1. A few years ago it was valued at over £10 Million. Sale price? £310,000 or just 3.1% of that earlier valuation. Time to go shopping?
Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder
Click Here to Subscribe to the SGM-FX Newsletter
Related Insights
Daily Brief – UK Employment
Humphrey Percy
Wed 16 Apr 2025
UK Employment At 75.1%, employment for people aged 16-64 looks sort of OK depending on what that really means, but it does not alter the fact that there are currently 1.55 million people who are unemployed, or 4.4% of the potential workforce. Another much more significant number, is that there are currently 9.27 million people […]
Daily Brief – British Pound
Humphrey Percy
Wed 23 Apr 2025
British Pound A 7 month high versus USD, and GBP is at present benefitting from the self inflicted wounds that the USA is continuing to suffer, the latest of which is the speculation over whether POTUS will defenestrate the Chair of the Federal Reserve. At the moment, and we choose our words carefully given the […]
Daily Brief – Rotation out of the US
Humphrey Percy
Mon 14 Apr 2025
Rotation out of the US Quite what that rotation may mean and by how much is exercising the markets and also doubtless the Chair of the Federal Reserve. For the yield on 10 year US Treasury Bonds to move from 3.99% to 4.50% in a week is extraordinary. At the same time, the US Dollar […]
