020 7898 0500Sterling suffered slightly on Wednesday, thanks to the release of minutes from the latest meeting of the monetary policy committee. This showed that policy makers were not as eager to raise interest rates as previously believed, with a unanimous vote cast to leave rates at the record low of 0.5%. Prior to the release, sterling had risen to a 6-year high against the US dollar. Performance against the euro was more disappointing, although it still remains in a strong position hovering around the 1.25 level.
Today sees the release of May’s retail sales data, which is expected to show a significant decline in sales. This seem to be a more a problem with the robustness of the comparatives than any underlying problem with the UK economy and if this figure comes in above expectations, as it has recently over the past three months, we could see further sterling strength.
