020 7898 0500Johnson made another gaffe when a recording of a speech he gave was leaked. The recording showed his contempt for Hammond and belief that the Irish border issue is folly. This last thought in particular is baffling, given how important the border issue is to trade agreement negotiations. The danger is that the assertions he makes without any foundation whatsoever could now be taken as fact. You do have to wonder how much damage has actually been done by the recording being leaked. I suspect Johnson won’t be too unhappy but it is certainly not for me to suggest that he might have orchestrated the leak. Perish the thought.
We have a busy week for the UK, beginning with production figures and April’s balance of trade report later today. Tomorrow we will see the unemployment rate for April and average earnings for the same month. On Wednesday we’ll get the inflation rate, which is expected to creep a little higher from 2.4% to 2.5%, and retail sales come in on Thursday. We could be in for a volatile week across several currency pairings.
The chart belows shows sterling’s movements against the dollar over the past month. As you can see, it is a bit of a rollercoaster, with sterling hitting some resistance around the $1.32 level; whenever it nears that, it seems to bounce back, albeit slightly. The real question is which way will the next big move come. If it breaks through a key level in either direction, then it could go into freefall or through the stratosphere. Hedge your currency risk today and remove any and all uncertainty. In so doing, you’ll be free to concentrate on the real business of running your company.
