Published: 17/07/2023 By ECAP
Sterling lost some ground at the end of last week and could struggle to recover ahead of Wednesday’s release of a make or break set of UK inflation numbers for June. Wednesday’s data will decide whether the BoE raises Bank Rate from 5% in August and by how much. However, with market expectations for borrowing costs later this year already elevated, this week’s data might be more of a downside risk for sterling than anything else.The Euro firmed up on Friday as a cautious market mood saw traders favour the safer single currency over its riskier peers. Moreover, better than forecast Eurozone trade data and the Euro’s negative correlation to a sluggish US Dollar also aided the bloc’s single currency. Looking forward, in the absence of any noteworthy Eurozone data today, risk appetite could drive the Euro once again.
The Dollar steadied in early European trade this morning as markets continued to speculate over the path of US interest rates. This follows Friday’s data release that showed US consumer sentiment remained resilient through June, pushing up concerns that the trend could keep inflation sticky and the Federal Reserve hawkish. However, substantially softer than expected U.S. inflation readings saw markets question just how much further the Fed could keep raising interest rates.