020 7898 0500Some positive news from the US again yesterday, following Wednesday’s impressive purchasing managers’ index figures. Initial jobless claims up to 17 February 2018 came in at 222,000 against an expectation of 230,000. It is the lowest figure for five weeks and is certainly an encouraging sign for the US economy.
This still didn’t prevent the dollar weakening against sterling and the euro, although the moves were extremely small. Indeed, currency movements throughout the week have been relatively sedate which is in sharp contrast to 2018 so far. GBP/USD continues to flirt with the key psychological barrier of $1.4000, but it appears to meet resistance whenever it goes above that.
It is fairly quiet today, but we do have several Federal Reserve members giving speeches. We will also see the monetary policy report. Could we really see four rate hikes this year?
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