Published: 17/12/2024 By ECAP
The British Pound strengthened after UK wages rose unexpectedly in October, with regular pay increasing by 5.2%, surpassing forecasts. This wage growth signals rising inflationary pressures, as companies may raise prices to cover higher employment costs. Ultimately, the market now expects fewer interest rate cuts by the Bank of England in 2025.The Euro faced mixed signals yesterday, with weak German and French manufacturing PMIs missing forecasts, while services data surprised positively. In fact, German services PMI rose to 51, and French services PMI reached 48.2. Moreover, the overall Flash Services PMI stood at 51.4, indicating steady growth. Looking forward, market focus now shifts to upcoming German Ifo and ZEW Economic Sentiment surveys for near-term Euro direction.
The U.S. Dollar strengthened following mixed economic data, with a strong services PMI at 58.5 but weak manufacturing at 48.3. In fact, the greenback’s upward momentum persisted despite the manufacturing miss, and attention now turns to upcoming US Retail Sales and Industrial Production data. Ultimately, market participants are closely watching these figures, as they could influence the Dollar's direction in the short term.
Data supplied by GC Partners