It’s been a positive week for sterling so far against the euro. Against the dollar, sterling has recovered a little since its dramatic fall on Tuesday and is marginally up on this time last week.
Economic data this week has been broadly positive. The headline inflation came in marginally below expectations at 9.9%, and follows better than expected jobs and GDP data earlier in the week.
In business news, UK firms will have to wait longer than households to receive assistance with energy costs. The government said there could be a “delay of weeks”, as businesses lack the price-cap mechanism that households have, meaning an entirely new scheme is to be mapped out.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s dismissal of his most senior Treasury official Sir Tom Scholar last week could have a “chilling effect” on civil servants, according to Lord Kerslake, the former head of the civil service. Next Thursday or Friday is likely to be the “fiscal event” where the chancellor will spell out the new economic policy, including income tax cuts. He is also reported to be seeking to remove the cap on bankers’ bonuses, in place since the financial crisis of 2008, in an effort to boost the City.
Eurozone market watchers will be keeping an eye out for balance of trade data which will be released later this morning.
Among several interesting data releases from the US today, the main one to watch will be retail sales at 1:30pm followed by the Michigan consumer sentiment tomorrow.
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