The US dollar ended last week on the back foot thanks to a slighter brighter geopolitical mood and weak consumer data. Although the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment study was revised up slightly, April’s score still came in…
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Based on recent comments by ECB policy voters, Thursday’s decision might come a little too soon for a potential hike. The pervasive sense at the moment is one of uncertainty, true for both currency markets and economists. The…
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Inflation aside, last week’s economic reports were broadly positive for the UK economy. The problem is that inflation will be top of the Bank of England’s mind come Thursday. Sterling faces a high-wire act in sustaining its current…
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Sterling faces its most significant recent threat when the Bank of England meets on Thursday lunchtime. Andrew Bailey and co struck an unexpectedly hawkish tone at the March meeting, making this decision very much a choice between a…
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This week’s big data test has now landed and the picture is much sharper than most had expected. The latest flash purchasing managers’ index (PMI) readings – the monthly surveys that track how businesses are feeling in real…
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The pound’s tone has shifted quietly rather than dramatically this week, edging up against the euro to its strongest level in a month. The record monthly jump in UK business input prices in this week’s PMI has all…
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The single currency was the clear loser in this week’s data, pulling back against both sterling and the dollar after the latest flash PMI dropped into contraction territory. With Germany now forecasting just 0.5% growth this year, and…
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What is striking this week is that the dollar is not rallying the way it usually would during a global risk event. Oil above $105, a blockaded strait and record-low consumer sentiment have so far produced only a…
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