GBP

The pound lost ground yesterday as UK mortgage approvals
unexpectedly declined in October to 42,800 from 43,200 in September. The pound
also came under pressure after former Bank of England policy maker Adam Posen commented
that a house-price bubble may provoke a crisis in the pound.

USD

GBP

The pound lost ground yesterday as UK mortgage approvals
unexpectedly declined in October to 42,800 from 43,200 in September. The pound
also came under pressure after former Bank of England policy maker Adam Posen commented
that a house-price bubble may provoke a crisis in the pound.

USD

Data from the US disappointed yesterday with pending home
sales falling by 0.6% in October. Whilst negative data would tend to weaken the
US dollar, the currency actually managed to gain as investors flocked to the
dollar following the resolution over Iran’s nuclear programme.

JPY

The yen managed to catch some relief yesterday following the
release of the latest minute from the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy meeting. The
BoJ stated that there continue to be risks to the outlook for the economy as
well as commenting that it was “highly uncertain” whether inflation would reach
its 2% target.

Today

Bank of England governor Mark Carney is set to be questioned
by the Treasury Select Committee on its latest quarterly inflation report.
Investors will be looking to take cues from comments made by Carney to gauge
any changes to his forward guidance programme.

Data from the US will be scrutinised this afternoon as well
with building permits, housing starts and consumer confidence all set to
improve from their previous monthly figures. As long as these figures show an
improvement then we would expect to see the US dollar continue its strength from
yesterday.

Key Announcements:

13.30pm – USD – Building Permits (Sept): Expected to
increase to 940,000.

13.30pm – USD – Housing Starts (Oct): Expected to increase
to 910,000.

13.30pm – USD – Consumer Confidence (Nov): Expected to
increase to 72.9.