Daily Market Report – 17/06/2014 GBPThe Pound rose to its highest level against the USD dollar since August 2009 early yesterday morning but then retreated shortly after hitting 5 year highs. The move higher follows last week’s warning from Bank of England governor Mark Carney that borrowing costs could rise sooner than the markets had expected and it is possible that the official cash rate could rise before the end of the year. GBPThe Pound rose to its highest level against the USD dollar since August 2009 early yesterday morning but then retreated shortly after hitting 5 year highs. The move higher follows last week’s warning from Bank of England governor Mark Carney that borrowing costs could rise sooner than the markets had expected and it is possible that the official cash rate could rise before the end of the year. EURYesterday Eurozone inflation came in at 0.5% in May as the cost of telecommunications and food kept prices low as the Eurozone slipped deeper into a low-inflation hole in May. Eurostat reports that prices rose by just 0.5% across the euro region last month, in line with its initial estimate. Four European Union countries were in deflation territory, while another two saw unchanged prices compared to a year ago. Only Luxembourg, Austria, Slovenia and Finland had an annual inflation rate of 1% or more. USDExperts have warned that growing geopolitical risk in Iraq and the Ukraine could send oil and gas prices up sharply, that could lead to a correction in the equities markets and a move away from riskier assets. If tensions escalate further we could see flight to the safe havens of the US dollar and the Japanese Yen. The International Monetary Fund has cut its forecast for growth in the United States this year after harsh winter weather hit the world’s largest economy in the early months of 2014.The downgrade comes in the IMF’s latest update on the US economy, which also highlights stubbornly high poverty rates, high long-term unemployment and stagnant wage growth The IMF now believes GDP in the US will grow just 2% this year, only a fraction faster than 1.9% growth in 2013. It had previously forecast growth of 2.8% for this year back in April U.S. factories boosted production in May as the nation’s industrial output increased for the third time in four months, a sign that growth in the critical manufacturing sector is back on track following a harsh winter Industrial production rose a seasonally adjusted 0.6% from April, the Federal Reserve said on Monday. Capacity utilization, a closely watched gauge of slack in the economy, moved up 0.2 percentage point to 79.1% in May TodayInflation is the main theme of the day with UK inflation for May expected to decline to 1.7% from a 2% increase in April. Later on in the Afternoon US inflation is expected to remain steady at 2% for the month of May. We also have ZEW Economic sentiment reports from Germany and the Eurozone. Key Announcements:09:30 – GBP- Core Consumer price index (May) fall from 2% to 1.7%10:00 – EUR- German ZEW Economic sentiment Survey higher at 35.0010:00 – EUR – Eurozone Economic Sentiment Survey13:30 – USD- US Consumer Price Index (May) expected to remain unchanged at 2% Our dealers are available via e-mail ([email protected]) or by phone (020 3051 1226).