Currency Note Sterling

Sterling dependent on news from outside the UK this week

By Ricky Bean October 19th, 2015

Sterling struggled throughout much of Friday, losing ground against both the euro and US dollar before recovering towards the end of the day. With no economic data released from the UK on Friday, sterling movement was largely dictated by events elsewhere, and sterling struggled against the US dollar as consumer sentiment in the US grew more than expected throughout September.

The week ahead sees little economic data released from the UK, although tomorrow’s testimony from Bank of England (BoE) governor Mark Carney does have the potential to create market movement. Due to speak before the Treasury Select Committee, any comments he makes in relation to BoE policy in terms of interest rates will be eagerly awaited by investors keen to gain insight into when interest rates are likely to be increased.

Aside from this, retail sales data for the month of September will provide the only additional point of interest in terms of the data from the UK. With inflation falling into negative territory, retail sales are expected to buck this trend and show a slight increase throughout September of 0.3% compared to the previous month.