With little significant economic data to digest traders refrained from sending Sterling significantly higher against the majors yesterday. Markets were interested in Prime Minister David Cameron’s speech at the EU summit in Brussels but the PM’s vagueness, with regards to what he wants to stay in the union, meant that most market players were not minded to adjust their GBP positions too much following the speech. Most analysts are confident that Britons will vote to remain in the EU but it is anticipated that economic uncertainty in the run-up to …

Sterling fell back below 1.41 against the Euro and lost around half a cent against the US Dollar on Wednesday as global economic developments bolstered the latter two currencies and disappointing UK data undermined demand for Sterling. The BBA Loans for Home Purchase report was the week’s most influential British data so although the figure hit a 14-month high, the fact that it was below forecasts had a slightly detrimental impact on the exhange rate of the Pound. Today’s CBI Reported Sales number may have a modest impact on GBP/EUR, …

Sterling surged higher across the currency board yesterday morning thanks to some better-than-anticipated UK labour market data.
The headline unemployment rate held firm at a six-and-a-half-year low of 5.5% in the three months to April, as expected, but markets were more excited by a surprise jump in British wages from an upwardly revised 2.3% to 2.7%. Including bonuses it was the highest period of wage growth since the summer of 2011 and excluding bonuses it was the steepest incline since the beginning of 2009. Demand for the Pound soared as …

It was a fairly uneventful day for the Pound yesterday with little in the way of domestic data for currency traders to contend with. The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) announced that it had cut its 2015 UK growth estimate from 2.7% to 2.4% but markets were not moved by the downward revision because CBI Director-General John Cridland mentioned that the economy should rebound from the slowdown in Q1. Despite the downgrade Cridland was largely optimistic about the prospects for Britain, commenting that the ‘recovery has built up a good …

The Pound weakened against most of the majors yesterday as markets reacted to some worse-than-anticipated UK manufacturing data. Markit Economics reported that factory output improved from a downwardly revised 51.8 to 52.0 in May but investors were disappointed because the median market consensus had pointed towards a higher score of 52.5.
Depressed private sector output threatens to give the Bank of England ammunition to keep rates at the current record low of 0.50% for longer and subsequently we could see Sterling soften over the next few days if data related to …

The Pound Sterling gave up some of the gains it achieved against the Euro on Tuesday after Greek officials eased concerns that the country will default on a debt repayment due on June 5. The Pound firmed against the US Dollar due to the release of mixed economic data releases out of the world’s largest economy. Investors will now focus on the Queen’s speech to parliament for direction. The speech will outline the Conservative government’s plans for the coming parliamentary session.
US Dollar
The US Dollar softened against most of its …

GBP received a fillip yesterday when UK retail sales massively outshone market expectations with a six-month high score of 1.2%. On an annual basis the sector experienced a robust rise of 4.7%, which beat forecasts of 3.8%. It seems that the recent dip in consumer prices, combined with the relatively warm weather, helped lift Britons’ spirits and led to a surge in retail spending during April. And because retail sales make up around 70% of the British economy the Pound responded positively to the result, which was seen to boost …