020 7898 0500Sterling rounded off the week in style, with a surge on Friday afternoon helping the currency reach fresh 7 and 8 month highs versus the US dollar and euro respectively. Moving in to this week, no more data is due out today after the early morning release of the housing price index from Rightmove – a Smart currency partner. Tomorrow, the consumer price index data starts off the major sterling releases, with Wednesday being a crucial day with the minutes from the latest Bank of England rate setting meeting. The minutes will detail how the Monetary Policy Committee voted on both the current level of quantitative easing and the official bank rate. With recent developments with the unemployment rate and other positive economic indicators, it will be interesting to see if any members voted for a change. Thursday then holds monthly retail sales, another influential indicator, before a relatively quiet Friday with regards to data. Thanks to the above, we can certainly expect some volatility in the market, however, news from the US central bank mid-week may well cause the biggest reaction. Get in touch with your trader now to see if sterling can maintain its current run of form.
