Soft UK inflation, retail sales data bring Bank of England rate hike into question
The Pound traded lower against the US Dollar for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, the first time it has done so since the end of March, after yesterday’s UK inflation data fell short of expectations. Headline inflation in the UK unexpectedly slowed to 2.5% in March, its lowest level in a year, after investors had eyed an unchanged reading of 2.7%. While in itself disappointing, its implications for the path of Bank of England interest rate hikes will be of much more c
Sterling edges higher, Euro slips on weak manufacturing data
Sterling firmed against its major peers on the first trading day since the Easter break on Tuesday as a better-than-expected manufacturing PMI drew attention away from the uncertainty surrounding the Brexit negotiations. The monthly manufacturing index, a survey representing business sentiment in the sector, came in at an above forecast 55.1 in March. This was comfortably above the 54.7 consensus that economists had pencilled in, although still marked its lowest level in a ye
Euro falls on disappointing Eurozone inflation news and month-end flows
These are often driven by the need of various asset holders to rebalance their portfolios. The rally in the Euro has left many asset managers underexposed to Dollar - denominated assets, hence the need for further buying. The Euro was not helped by the weak inflation numbers out of Germany, either. The most remarkable aspect of FX trading continues to be the lack of any visible impact among G10 currencies of the sharp sell-offs in risk assets we are witnessing worldwide. Even