Barnier puts pressure on Sterling

With the current round of Brexit talks taking centre stage this week, Barnier puts pressure on Sterling during his speech at the end of the fifth round of negotiations. GBPEUR initially dropping 3/4 of a cent during the afternoon session, giving the impression of key resistance levels being broken. Barneir commenting that there is still a “deadlock” over the divorce fee the UK needs to pay when we eventually leave the EU.

David Davis, UKs chief negotiator is hoping other EU leaders will encourage Barnier to discuss trade talks at the summit later this month. There was also a mention that the two parties were closer to a deal regarding EU citizens rights and a deal was closer.

The full summary of the latest round of talks can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41585430

Yesterday’s data

The only major data yesterday was from the USA, where both PPI and unemployment claims came in better than expected. However, it did little to see the USD gain any ground, with Sterling correcting by close of trade and finishing the day where it began.

Mario Draghi’s speech yesterday, which unusually didn’t do anything to disrupt the markets. There was no mention of easing on the QE programme, but stated that there was a close watch on the labor market with signs of improvement. furthermore discussing that the ECB’s negative interest rate policy has largely been a success.

Today’s trading

Today’s data is yet again mainly from the US. With CPI and Core retail sales both out at 1.30 this afternoon. Should it be positive we could see the USD make up for the ground it has lost in recent weeks.

Should you have imminent trades coming up and don’t want to take the risk of the rates dropping before next week’s crucial inflation data, then call your CI account manager today for some friendly guidance.