Published: 23/06/2022 By ECAP
Economists are expecting a modest easing in the Euro and UK PMI numbers this morning, albeit to still post comfortably in expansionary territory. With the recent central bank meetings still hanging over markets and concerns over rising inflation still at large, all macroeconomic data will be closely watched to gain any further insight into the states of economy. With UK PMI data due this morning and Retail Sales data due tomorrow, sterling still remains under watch by investors.FOMC chair Jerome Powell began his semi-annual two-day testimony to Congress yesterday. He remarks didn’t really rock the boat too much, with very little, if any, new information to report, which may perhaps partly explain the retracement in the greenback. He reiterated the bank’s commitment to bringing down inflation, and said that the US economy was well placed to handle tighter monetary policy conditions. Headlines that Powell didn’t rule out a 100 basis point interest rate hike at upcoming meetings were a bit misleading, as he merely responded to a direct question on the matter by saying that he would not take any specific size of rate hike ‘off the table’. Powell will continue his testimony to Congress today, although we don’t expect any meaningful market moving information.