Little data reflects markets

17 May, 2013

Graham Harborne

A fairly subdued week in the currency markets which have not seen any huge swings in the market, though it would be fair to say that the main winner has been the USD. The pound has only really reacted on the back of EUR/USD movements and in all fairness it has been pretty much range bound against both major currencies. Poor data from Europe has weighed on the euro but with mixed data from both the UK and U.S movements have been limited. On a slightly more positive note comments made by Mervyn King hinted at a UK recovery which did help boost the pound. It is unlikely that investors will get carried away by these comments as we have been in this situation before only for things to deteriorate rather than improve. We also need to remember that Mervyn King will shortly be leaving his post as BoE governor and he may want to leave a positive vibe before the new governor arrives. Today is a relatively quiet day on the data front with no data out from the UK and only minor releases in both Europe and the States. The biggest date due today is from Canada so if you have a Canadian dollar requirement do get in touch with your account manager here at Currency Index otherwise we could expect a fairly quiet day in the markets, but you just never know………