020 7898 0500Sterling steadied on Friday, with some reversal after what has been one of its best runs against the Euro since early 2015. The Gross Domestic Product (GDP) came out at an expected 0.5% on Friday, but it was the greater sentiment around Hammond’s Autumn Statement and his emphasis on infrastructure and innovation that had proved a boost for the pound.
Attention has now also turned to Europe and the effect the UK leaving the bloc could have. With the European elections around the corner, and the Italian referendum next Sunday, attention on Brexit-related issues has temporarily faded. The pound had a fourth straight week of gains and was heading for its best month in over eight years last week.
The story is different for the pound versus the dollar, with the effect of higher US yields and also the likelihood of an interest rate rise in the US in December, stemming any strength for sterling in that currency pair.
This week sees the bank stress test results out on Wednesday as well as the Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) for the UK on Thursday. Construction PMI data will be released on Friday.
