Yesterday’s market movers

• There was very little out from the UK yesterday in terms of data to really impact the position of Sterling, as most of the movement seen in the British pound lately has been in the form of US dollar weakness.

Yesterday’s market movers

• There was very little out from the UK yesterday in terms of data to really impact the position of Sterling, as most of the movement seen in the British pound lately has been in the form of US dollar weakness.
• In the euro zone on Thursday the only piece of data we saw was European Consumer Confidence where a lower number was expected. Given the recent problems within the euro zone a lower number wasn’t really a total surprise. However a slight increase on the market census did little to raise the euro in mid morning trade as debt worries are still a concern for the EU.
• In the United States we had two pieces of fundamental data released on Thursday afternoon in the form of pending home sales and initial jobless claims. Initial jobless claims came in to the up side with an increase of 24,000 jobs which was seen as a three month high, this saw the US dollar strengthen against its major counterparts as any piece of positive data at the moment is seen as a USD positive given the recent debt concerns. Pending home sales rose 2.4% from a consensus of -1.0% given the notion that not all is bad in the US as many people may have you think.

 
Today’s market movers

• There is no data out from the UK today, however with it being a weekend we could see some volatility with banks looking to square up positions.
• In the euro zone we have German retail sales looking to be released to the up side, this is going along to show that despite all the problems within the euro zone over the last few weeks the German economy still remain the strongest in Europe. Following on from this is European CPI where an unchanged figure of 2.7% is expected. After two rate hikes within recent months the market will be looking for a positive figure to ease any concerns regarding any future movement on rates.
• The United States sees the biggest data of all three economies in the form of GDP where a lower figure is expected, in fairness given the recent debt problems it wouldn’t be a total surprise to see them come in lower.