Sterling was unable to make any headway against the dollar during the European session on Monday, but it was able to strengthen against the Euro for the sixth successive session as the single currency dipped to lows around 0.8460.
According to data from Visa, UK consumer spending slowed to a five-month low of 0.4% in January from 2.5% in December, maintaining expectations that underlying consumer spending will slow during 2017.
The latest UK consumer inflation data will be watched closely on Tuesday and a lower than expected reading would dampen expectations surrounding the need for higher interest rates while any move in the headline rate to 2.0% or higher would increase speculation that the Bank of England could be pushed towards an earlier than expected tightening.
Sterling was able to hold above the 1.2500 level against the dollar on Tuesday with a firm underlying tone
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 […]
US Dollar Uncertainty in the USA caused by a consequential cocktail of on off on tariffs, inflation concerns, derailed interest rate policy, federal spending and higher taxes is outweighing the safe haven status of the Dollar. In more normal times, the Ukraine ceasefire brinkmanship between Russia and the USA would drive up the USD. Instead, […]