Category Archives: FX News

Today’s key economic event is the release of the U.S. Retail Sales report. Markets anticipate a decline in sales month-on-month, expecting a drop to -0.2%, down from last month’s 1%. This report is closely watched as it provides insight into consumer spending trends.

Once the U.S. Retail Sales report is out, attention will shift to the UK on Wednesday, when the country is set to release its inflation figures. The forecast indicates no change, with inflation expected to hold steady at 2.2%. This data is crucial, as it will influence the Bank of England’s interest rate decision on Thursday.

The most anticipated event this week is the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest rate announcement on Wednesday evening. Markets are currently pricing in a 50 basis point cut, which could have significant implications for the global economy.

In anticipation of this announcement, the pound has strengthened against the U.S. dollar. However, further volatility is expected around the release of the Federal Reserve’s decision, which could lead to notable market movements.

Meanwhile, the pound-to-euro exchange rate has remained relatively stable, showing little fluctuation despite ongoing market developments. This stability contrasts with the pound’s movement against the dollar.

A quiet start to the week with only the NY Fed Empire State Survey due.

The focus this week will be both the US fed policy announcement and the Bank of England policy announcement on Thursday.

It is widely expected the Bank of England will leave the headline rate at 5 percent, but it will be the comments that follow that will garner a lot of attention.

Before the Bank of England policy announcement on Thursday, we have the UK inflation figures on Wednesday.

If UK inflation comes in lower than expected, we could see the pound weaken off slightly.

Wednesday is a big day for markets, as we will see the Federal Reserve finally cut interest rates and likely signal that there are more to come.

On Friday, we have the UK Retail Sales figures due followed by the EU consumer confidence numbers to cap off a busy week.

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Global market stability helped the Pound Sterling hold off Euro strength following the European Central Bank’s (ECB) decision to decrease interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.50% yesterday. The decision had been anticipated and unanimous, resulting in it having little impact on the Euro.

The comments and revised forecasts were positive for the Euro because they did not encourage markets to speculate that the ECB would accelerate the pace of rate cuts. If it had been the case, euro exchange rates would have fallen.

On the other hand, if ECB President Christine Lagarde had fought back firmly against current forecasts of more than one 25 basis point rate decrease in the remainder of 2024, the Euro would have surged.

Looking ahead, Eurozone industrial output is expected to fall by 0.5% in August. In the United States, the initial reading of consumer sentiment is expected to improve modestly in September. However, neither release is anticipated to have a significant impact on the FX markets.

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For additional insights on how this could affect your business or to capitalise on market volatility – please reach out to speak to one of our experts.

The risk-averse sentiment extended to currencies, with classic safe havens like the yen and Swiss franc gaining traction.

However, the dollar’s rise was limited by a lowering of US market rate expectations. Against this context, EUR/USD and GBP/USD traded in extremely narrow ranges yesterday.

This morning, the monthly reading of UK GDP for July was announced. The statistics came in below expectations, with output flatlining for the month compared to projections of a 0.2% month-on-month increase.

Pound sterling expressed frustration with the news that the economy did not grow in July.This means that the economy has failed to grow for two months in a succession, raising concerns about the UK’s growth outperformance compared to the Eurozone.

Later today, the spotlight will be on US CPI inflation in August. The headline rate is predicted to dip to 2.6% from 2.9%, with the core rate remaining at 3.2%. The release creates some event risk for the dollar.

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For additional insights on how this could affect your business or to capitalise on market volatility – please reach out to speak to one of our experts.