Daily & Weekly Market News

GBP - British Pound

Oil prices have shot up this morning following the attacks at the weekend on Saudi Arabia's biggest oil production facility. At one point prices were up 20%, the largest one day moves in history, before settling back down. Yemeni rebels have claimed responsibility whilst US Secretary of State MIke Pompeo has blamed Iran. Meanwhile, the global economy will be affected with the attacks having wiped off about 5% of production. The oil proxy currencies of Canada and Norway have both benefited from the cut in output with both leaping at the open this morning.

Elsewhere in the UK Boris Johnson is meeting Jean-Claude Junker in Luxembourg today amidst fresh Brexit talks. The Prime Minister is set to reiterate that the UK is not prepared to postpone its exit out of Europe however given the state of the pound which is currently trading north of the significant level of 1.2400 investors are satisfied due to the No Deal extension being ratified.

Key Movers

The ECB cut its interest rates last week to -0.5% whilst also restarting its quantitative easing programme by purchasing €20bn worth of government and corporate bonds each month. The market will be looking towards the Federal Reserve on Wednesday where the Fed are set to cut its interest rates by 25 basis points. This is a slight step down from the anticipated cut of 50 basis points but for investors, questions still remain as to what will happen to the US Dollar given the recent strength of currencies elsewhere.

Expected Ranges