Busy week ahead, lots of key data from around the world!

2 March, 2020

Tom Arnold

Last week was painful for the Pound after the recent highs, as Brexit once again came to the fore. Both the UK and EU set out their negotiating positions and it came as no real surprise that the UK is opting for a very aggressive stance, and threatening a “No Deal” outcome as soon as the summer, let alone the end of the year when the true deadline is set for.

No Deal is very negative for the Pound due to the huge uncertainty that it brings with it, with our regular readers I am sure very aware how much the markets hate uncertainty. Investors will simply not back a horse they cannot judge effectively and so they look for surer investments elsewhere, taking their strength providing equity with them.

The week ahead is a busy one, with lots of key data from around the world:

Monday
UK Manufacturing PMI
European Manufacturing PMI
US Manufacturing PMI

Tuesday
Australian Interest Rate Decision + Statement
UK Construction PMI
European CPI Inflation
European PPI Inflation
European Unemployment rate

Wednesday
Australian GDP
UK Services PMI
European Services PMI
European Retail Sales
US Services PMI
US Non-Manufacturing PMI
Canadian Interest rate Decision + Statement

Thursday
US Jobless Claims
Bank of England Governor Carney Speech

Friday
UK House Price Index
German Industrial Production
US Non-Farm Payrolls

If you have Sterling in hand and a currency requirement coming up, then you really should be considering locking in your rate ahead of any further drops. It may well be a bitter pill to swallow, given the drops of last week, but there could be worse to come.