Money News Overview Tuesday 18th June: A big week in terms of market moving data for the UK

In today’s economic calendar there is a mixture of key data releases that the markets will be keeping a close eye on.

French CPI inflation is forecasted to come in higher at 2.6 percent (previous 2.4 percent).

This afternoon, US retail sales is a big focus. It is expected the change in the total value of sales by retailers in the USA will rise by 0.3 percent month-on-month. This will be a positive sign for the Fed and the US economy. Furthermore, it will also support their hawkish stance to maintain interest rates at 5.5 percent.

Last week, US inflation figures came in above 3 percent. This further reinforced the Feds latest actions and that they are happy to keep interest rates at their levels to help lower inflation and mitigate upside risk to prices.

Pound Sterling has lost most of its gains sustained over the last week against the Euro and Dollar in the lead up to important inflation figures tomorrow.

The Bank of England monetary policy decision on Thursday will be closely monitored for clues on any forward guidance.

UK CPI inflation is expected to come in at the Bank of England target rate of 2 percent. If this is the case, it will put pressure on the Bank of England to cut interest rates.