The Pounds a slow starter

The week started yesterday with a drought of any key data to give investors much to go on. A low key speech from one of the MPC members as the day kicked off, coupled with the Sentix Investor confidence reading which came in much lower than estimates expected meant sterling/euro exchange rates traded in a thin range for most of the morning.

It wasn’t until lunchtime and the open of the US markets where we saw some real movement, as clearly US investor sentiment lies away from the dollar. Non farm payrolls on Friday, although posting a much better than expected figure, still didn’t entice investors to back the dollar and it seems that train of thought still holds firm this week as the pound gained over a cent as the US opened and with little to support the euro, we also gained half a cent there too.

The only data of any note was US labour market conditions index which although didn’t have a forecast expectation, came in at -2.4 from a figure last month of 0.4, which would indicate negativity in the jobs market and a poor show for the US economy, which more than likely contributed to the ailing rates. Good news for anyone with a dollar requirement for sure.

This morning we have already seen Swiss unemployment rate, although without a change from last month, there has been not change on rates. German industrial production figures released early show an improvement from last month and expectations which have given the euro a boost first thing, pushing the sterling/euro rates back towards the levels of Monday morning.

We await Swiss inflation figures, a speech by Bank of England governor Mark Carney, EU GDP, Canadian housing starts figures followed this evening by NZ retail sales and Aussie consumer confidence overnight.

Not a great deal going on but the Carney speech should be one to keep an eye on, s for those with an impending transfer, get in touch with a member of the Currency Index team this morning to discuss your options.