House prices in the UK have shown signs of growth this morning, with the monthly Halifax report showing a rise in house prices at 0.1 percent.
Looking ahead at this week’s economic releases, the UK will post their latest Interest Rate Announcement, which markets are forecasting another month of no change at 5.25 percent. Focus will shift towards the Bank of England Meeting Minutes, where the discussion of any rate cuts this year will be the area of focus.
Following this, the US will announce their Employment reports. Markets are expecting the Unemployment claims to rise to 215k (from 208k last week).
Friday will be the busiest day this week, with a handful of UK data being released. Starting with Gross Domestic Product, markets are forecasting growth of 0.4 percent quarter on quarter. This will be followed by the Industrial Production figures.
On the currency front, the pound has taken a hit against the dollar. This is likely due to the announcement that the FED feel any rate cuts this year are unlikely.
As for the pound to euro rate, a small sell off has been noticed this morning dropping below the yearly average.