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 …

The Pound put in a jaded performance yesterday. There were ups, there were downs. But generally speaking Sterling traded with a neutral bias ahead of this morning’s UK CPI report. Markets anticipate another month of stagnant yearly price pressures – not particularly exciting – but spirits could be roused somewhat if the inflation index prints above zero. On the other side of the coin, the journey could prove even worse for the Pound exchange rate if the CPI report shows that Britain has already slipped into disinflation.
Sterling could soften …

The Pound exchange rate performed well again yesterday as markets reacted to some better-than-expected UK industrial output data. Beating estimates of 0.1%, the yearly industrial production figure for March came in at a six-month high of 0.7% thanks to a surprise uptick in oil and gas extraction. Manufacturing output also beat the market consensus with a print of 1.1% compared to forecasts of 1.0%. All in all the robust industrial data is not expected to bring about an upgrade to the first quarter’s GDP print of 0.3%, however, the National …