The last couple of days have mainly been a story of inconsistency in the performance of the UK economy. On Tuesday we had some significantly better than expected Services PMI figures out, which caused the Pound to strengthen quite markedly across the board, and then yesterday we had some industrial and manufacturing data out, which failed to reach the anticipated levels and caused some of the previous days improvements to slip away again.
As a result we have seen some overall improvement for those of you who have Pounds and are buying another currency, but we definitely still need to be wary. The recent surge in Sterling positivity is most definitely stuttering, so it may well be worth considering securing your rate in case of any further downward movements.
Today we have some European industrial and trade figures this morning and then we hand over to the two big local central banks for their monthly policy statements. The Bank of England are first at midday and then the European Central Bank forty five minutes later. Neither of them are expected to make any dramatic moves, with the ECB press conference probably more likely to create any waves, ahead of a bit more insight on the BoE’s decision when the minutes come out later this month. Future policy is the key, with the markets watching closely for interest rate change clues…
The backdrop to all of this is the US Dollar taking back the centre stage. It is the one big currency that is really pushing hard back against the Pound and the market sentiment is definitely shifting. The big old Greenback is on the move, so those with a US Dollar requirement and of course Danger Mouse should definitely take note.
As ever stay in close contact with your CI account manager to be kept informed on exactly what is happening and if you want to consider securing your currency then ask what your options are – there are various solutions to suite all situations.