GBP: muted end to the week but we could still see some sterling movement

It was a muted end to the week for sterling as it made only slight losses against the euro and US dollar. Traders had been bracing themselves for Theresa May’s Brexit speech in Florence, but in the end it was a bit of an anticlimax. There is still the possibility of some sterling movement when we have the response to the speech from EU officials so let’s wait and see what happens.

Last Friday, the Confederation of British Industry released a report that said UK manufacturing growth slowed in Q3 but, again, there was very little sterling movement in response.

Today we will get the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee statement, while tomorrow sees the release of UK mortgage approvals for August. On Wednesday, Nationwide will release their housing prices data, but, much like last week, the main focus is Friday; we’ll get UK GDP growth rate at the start of the day, then consumer confidence around midday.