The Bank of England meeting and PMI data to create volatility for sterling

Sterling had a relatively quiet day on Friday, seeing losses against a strengthening US dollar, whilst at the same time strengthening against the euro. This came on the back of good data in consumer confidence and house pricing, with both seeing good rises themselves. This week is again laden with data from the UK, as Monday to Wednesday holds manufacturing, construction, and then services Purchasing Managers Indices (PMI), giving a good indication on the health of these economic areas. If we see strong figures released this will continue to fuel speculation that monetary policy may be tightened next year, in spite of the recent comments from the Governors of the Bank of England (BoE) who pledged to keep rates at their historic lows until unemployment falls below 7% – which the BOE are not forecasting to happen until 2016. On Thursday we have the monthly BoE meeting where the Monetary Policy Committee members will vote on the current levels of quantitative easing and interest rates, although no change is expected. Call your trader now for the latest price on sterling as it starts a consistently busy week.