Public sector net borrowing figures set to dominate the Pound today

A very busy week on the markets comes to a quiet end, with very little data of note to trouble investors today. Public sector net borrowing figures from the UK this morning and some inflation figures in Canada, really are all we have to digest. There are a couple of speeches from FED members later this afternoon, which could prove interesting given the fireworks from the FED on Wednesday evening, so watch out for some late afternoon Dollar movement. Sterling is still very close to 4/5 month highs against theEuro and 9 month highs against the Dollar, and while yesterday’s UK retail sales figures – -0.9 rather than +0.4 – caused a bit of a drop, the Pound is still in favour and relatively strong against most currencies, particularly the US dollar, which is suffering as a result of the FED’s change of stance announced on Wednesday and the resultant dovish feeling towards the US economy. If you have an upcoming purchase of a foreign currency with Sterling as the starting point, then it is well worth considering a forward contract. You can book the rate now, while only having to part with a small percentage of your Sterling for up to 2 years ahead for most majors and 1 year ahead for some of the more exotic currencies. You could also consider a limit order if you think the Pound has some more gains to make, and you can combine a limit order and a forward contract as well. For more information on these contract types and also to be kept informed of what is occurring with all of the various data releases, make sure you stay in close contact with your CI account manager.