GBP
Yesterday was an extremely quiet
day for the pound, with zero key data and no speeches from government members.
Reports in UK press said that David Cameron would remove any minister that was
against an EU referendum, however this was quickly dismissed by Cameron, who
said that his comments were misinterpreted in regard to the British Governments
ability to leave the EU in a future referendum.

The only minor piece of data concerning the pound was that The

GBP
Yesterday was an extremely quiet
day for the pound, with zero key data and no speeches from government members.
Reports in UK press said that David Cameron would remove any minister that was
against an EU referendum, however this was quickly dismissed by Cameron, who
said that his comments were misinterpreted in regard to the British Governments
ability to leave the EU in a future referendum.

The only minor piece of data concerning the pound was that The
Confederation of British Industry downgraded the UK’s growth forecast to 2.4%
in 2015, and 2.5% in 2016, down from 2.7% and 2.6% respectively, posed by a
possible ‘messy’ end to the Greek crisis and EU referendum.

USD
The US Dollar also
experienced a quiet day. Due to lack of data coming out of the US, the markets
were sentiment driven and whilst slightly choppy throughout the session,
GBP/USD closed at roughly the same levels as the opening price. The US sold
$48bn dollars’ worth of 3 and 6 month bonds, pushing the yields to 0.015% and
0.080% respectively.

Fed member Dudley openly stated yesterday that a rate hike is expected to occur
this year and that the difference between market expectations and timing of
rate lift-off is extremely close, which was taken as a surprise given Dudley’s
usual dovish stance. There were reports yesterday that Obama announced that the
USD is too strong and could potentially damage exports which was the reason for
a choppy session, however a comment from a US official was also backed up by
Obama who stated at the G7 meeting that the USD strength is not a cause for
concern. Obama also pointed out at the G7 meeting after speaking with Angela
Merkel, that sanctions on Russia must stay in place until it implements a deal
to end fighting in the Ukraine.

EUR
Talks between Greece and the
Eurogroup remain an uncertainty with regards to the final outcome. Greek PM
Tsipras said the country will not agree a third bailout program nor accept an
agreement without the restructuring of their debt. Tsipras stated there is no
deadline in regards to ongoing negotiations and that talks with creditors have
entered the final stage. However conflicting comments from the European
Commission President Juncker suggested he is losing patience with Greece and is
yet to receive a list of reforms from the troubled nation that could resolve
the ongoing stalemate. A comment from Greek Finance minister Varoufakis said
that discussions with German Finance Minister Schaeuble had been productive.
This did give analysts some confidence in the EUR, with the EUR making gains
against both the pound and the dollar. 

Key Announcements

No major announcements

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