020 7898 0500A large number of influential economic releases induced increased movements in sterling markets over the past week. A quiet start to the week saw little movement in sterling, as worse-than-expected manufacturing growth data was largely ignored by the markets.
Any hope of a turnaround in fortunes for sterling were swiftly quelled on Tuesday following the release of the latest YouGov poll concerning the Scottish Independence vote. Sterling reacted poorly to the news that there is only a six-point difference between the “yes” and “no” vote, and fell to its lowest levels in six-months against the US dollar.
Wednesday’s services growth data failed to boost the currency, despite showing robust growth throughout the past month. Instead, this has been seen an indication that the economic recovery in the UK is unbalanced. Thursday saw sterling rally strongly against the euro as the European Central Bank (ECB) unexpectedly voted to lower all three of their main interest rates, whilst the Bank of England voted to keep rates on hold.
A quiet day today sees little economic data released, but with markets still digesting the week’s earlier releases, there is still scope for further movement.
