Key week for the Pound

Friday saw the Pound lose almost a cent against the Euro after showing much promise earlier in the week trading at 4 months high. The correction on Friday, largely expected by analysts, due to profit-taking after it’s recent peaks saw GBP lose ground on it’s major pairings and now enters this key week back in a negative trend line. The drop in rate means the purchase of a 100,000 Euro’s would have cost you £800 more 4pm Friday compared to 5pm Thursday. For those of you who took out a forward contract earlier in the week, you would be glad to see your decision has paid off. For those who are still holding out, Friday demonstrated how quickly the markets can turn against you and with the EU summit taking place this week, are you in a position to take a further gamble and see the markets come down further?

The EU summit takes place on the 18th and 19th October, a summit that brings particular importance to the Brexit process. These were the dates originally pencilled in for the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. The lack of progress amde in the talks has pushed a deal back but this summit will sure progress these talks. “In October we expect maximum progress and results in the Brexit talks. Then we will decide whether conditions are there to call an extraordinary summit in November to finalise and formalise the deal.” These were the words used by Donald Tusk in Salzburg, the markets will be extremely volatile by the end of the week, to stay updated please stay in touch with your account manager. The full schedule for the summit can be found here.

Before the summit takes please we have some key eco data;

Monday 1.30pm US Core Retail Sales
Tuesday 9.30am UK Average Earnings
Wednesday 9.30 UK CPI
Wednesday 7pm FOMC Meetings Minute
Thursday 9.30 UK Retail Sales / EU Summit
Friday 1.30 CAD GDP Q/Y
Friday 4.30pm Carney Speaks