Daily Currency Update

GBP - British Pound

Today the focus momentarily shifts to the Bank of England who are set to once again vote on their interest rates. I say momentarily because the Bank is widely expected to keep its rates on hold at 0.75% and so before long the spotlight will be back on the upcoming election, the latest polls and whether or not the Labour Party can formulate a definitive Brexit stance.

There is a risk this afternoon however that the monetary policy committee is not unanimous in its decision with a few members breaking file. If this is the case and some members do urge a cut in rates to stem the drop in retail sales or increase in unemployment then there could be some downside risk to the pound.

Key Movers

It was an almost tortuously quiet day in the FX markets yesterday but there was disappointment that the deal between US - China could be pushed back to until December. This drove a number of the major currencies southward but given how long negotiations have been ongoing it shouldn't be a surprise another setback has been announced. EUR/USD suffered furthermore with the composite PMI figure for Europe coming in at 50.6, pretty much flat. There's another update for Europe today in the form of the Commission's Autumn economic forecast but if it is anything like the recent PMI figures then the outlook could weigh on the Euro.

Expected Ranges