UK jobs data boosts sterling
Daily Currency Update
UK wage data was released this morning and came out very strong. Actual wage growth came in at 6.5% above the expected 6.1% and 6.1% from the prior reading, which was a revision from 5.8%. The UK also added 250k jobs in the 3 months through April against a forecast of only 150k and 182k prior. The release at 7 am UK time this morning caused GBP to spike up against USD and EUR by 0.26% and 0.30% respectively.The solid UK jobs data seems to have confirmed the likely June rate hike from the Bank of England. Markets are predicting a 25-bps hike with an outside chance of a 50-bps hike on the 22nd of June.
Key Movers
The ZEW Survey from the Eurozone is due to be released this morning. This will come out after German CPI data was released as expected earlier.US CPI data will offer support for tomorrow’s FOMC meeting. CPI for the states could be expected to come in at 4.1%, down from 4.9% prior. The dovish rhetoric by several Fed officials boosted market sentiment yesterday as markets believe the Fed is likely to pause their hiking cycle for the time being.
Expected Ranges
- GBP/USD: 1.2500 - 1.2625 ▲
- GBP/EUR: 1.1590 - 1.1700 ▲
- EUR/USD: 1.0720 - 1.0880 ▲