Thanks to the weakening euro, the pound is still up against the single currency this morning but is weaker against the dollar. After reaching a six month high against the euro at the beginning of the week, the pound weakened slightly yesterday as the boost from the Brexit Party’s announcement faded. The Brexit Party said that they would not contest Conservative seats held in the 2017 election, causing the pound to rally initially due to the decreased possibility of a hung Parliament. However, although a Conservative majority may look slightly more likely, plenty of unpredictability remains.
An improvement in unemployment rate failed to move sterling, whilst average hourly earnings came in lower and below market estimates. Labour productivity in the UK increased 0.3% quarter-on-quarter, however showed no yearly growth.
Today, we’ll see a series of data releases for the UK, including inflation rate figures, which are expected to drop slightly to 1.6% from 1.7% previously.
