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Brexit, Trump and ‘Super Thursday’

By Ricky Bean January 31st, 2017

There’s no getting away from President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration and the anger it has caused on a global basis. UK news are focusing on the petition urging the government to call off Trump’s state visit to the UK (at time of writing this was north of 1.3 million).

In the meantime, there was no major data released yesterday but sterling found itself under a little bit of pressure.

Later today the UK’s lending figures will be released, which will give us an idea of the consumers’ appetite for credit and the banks’ willingness to lend. This number is not a huge market mover but it will give the markets an indication as to how the economy is performing.

In addition, parliament is open until midnight tonight as the House of Commons will be discussing the bill for Article 50 before its second reading on Wednesday.

The remainder of the week is going to be busy. The January manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index {PMI} is set for release tomorrow. There’s been a lot of focus on manufacturing since sterling first fell following the referendum in June last year because it is hoped that manufacturing gains can make up for some of the expected losses in the services sector.

The key PMI, for the services sector, is released on Friday. This sector accounts for more than 70% of economic activity in the UK.

In between we’ll have ‘Super Thursday’, with the Bank of England’s quarterly inflation report and interest rate decision, followed by BoE Governor Mark Carney’s press conference. This will give the markets updated growth forecasts as well as more information on the possible direction of interest rates.