Pounded Pound Stages Relief Rally On Strong UK Data
The pound, already out of favour ever since the Bank of England’s last policy meeting a couple of weeks ago, fell further yesterday in response to softer-than-expected UK inflation figures.
QE
GBPUSD Slumps As BoE Votes 6-2 To Hold Policy Unchanged
The Bank of England has left interest rates unchanged with only two of its MPC members voting in favour of a hike this month.
EURUSD Pauses For Breath Ahead Of ECB
The economic calendar is taking a breather today but will return with bang tomorrow. Market participants are looking forward to two major central meetings as the Bank of Japan and especially the European Central Bank take centre stage.
Gold UK Elections, ECB and Comey Testimony Among Week’s Highlights
It is going to be a big week for the markets this one, especially towards the end of it. Among other things, we will have the UK’s general elections, the ECB’s latest policy decision and former FBI Director James Comey’s testimony all to look forward to on Thursday.
Dollar Weakness: Enough Is Enough?
The dollar has been trending lower ever since the turn of the year. This has been because of the unwinding of the bullish positions that had been accumulated before and after the US election in part as investors began to question how much of the promised fiscal spending President Trump will actually deliver and how this may impact growth and inflation, and in turn interest rates.
EUR Firms As Traders Eye Tighter ECB Policy
The euro finds itself higher across the board. The EUR/USD has risen above the 1.0800 handle again, the EUR/GBP to 0.8650 and the EUR/JPY was back at 120.00 at the time of writing.
Eurozone inflation back at 2%
Inflation has made a dramatic return in the Eurozone. In February, the headline CPI measure rose to 2.0% year-over-year, accelerating from 1.8% in January.
ECB’s QE Working Its Magic…Finally
The European Central Bank’s large bond buying programme appears to be finally working its magic. Inflation is on the rise, unemployment is falling and the economic bloc is – believe it or not – growing, all thanks to years of zero interest rates, several versions of bond purchases programme and a resulting weak currency.
(Not So) Precious Metals
As we highlighted the possibility on Monday, gold took a big plunge below the psychologically-important and support level of $1300 per ounce yesterday. The breakdown triggered further follow-up technical selling, causing gold to fall for a time below $1270 per ounce.
ECB Unchanged – Markets React Negatively
ECB’s inaction clearly disappointed a few people as European stock indices dropped when the policy statement was released.