USD: positive data from the US cannot stop it sliding against the pound and euro

Economic data from the US continued where it left off last Friday, as consumer spending was shown to have increased by its fastest rate since the start of the financial crisis. Indeed, it leapt by 1% in August alone, which could be symptomatic of people replacing goods damaged by the recent spate of hurricanes.

However, the news wasn’t enough to prevent the dollar weakening against sterling and the euro. This was likely because of expectations of a UK interest rate rise on Thursday and some positive data from the eurozone, which saw Spain’s GDP expand by 0.8% in the third quarter of 2017.

Today the consumer confidence figures are released, but attention will be turned to tomorrow when the Federal Reserve meet to discuss whether or not to increase interest rates. While they are expected to be kept on hold this month, it is widely expected that they will increase in December and any confirmation of this by Chair Janet Yellen could strengthen the greenback.

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