Sterling beats most of the major currencies this week after a strong start on positive PMI data was able to weather a very dovish comment from BOE Governor Carney later in the week.
United Kingdom Headlines and Economic data
Monday:
Tuesday:
- Boris Johnson to push for a speedy trade deal in new Brexit talks with EU
- Sterling spikes higher at the London open before falling into an intraday downtrend. There doesn’t seem to be a direct catalyst for the bearish reversal, but one argument could the weakness was a reaction to the announcement from Britain’s Debt Management Office (DMO) that it was raising its gilt issuance target for the 2019/20 financial year by 14.0 billion pounds.
Wednesday:
- Central Banks Are Nearing Policy Limits, Bank of England’s Carney Says
- UK House prices in December were 4.0% higher than in the same month a year earlier
Thursday:
- U.K. BRC retail sales monitor rebounded by 1.7% vs. projected 0.5% dip
- Bank of England governor hints at imminent interest rate cut – This event was probably the highlight of the week for Sterling, evidenced by the quick drop lower in Pound pairs after Carney’s comments that a rate cut is a real possibility if the economic data worsens.
Friday:
