Sterling had a good week last time out after suffering for the majority of April beforehand. £-€ recovered 1% and has importantly held its position over the weekend and £-$ clawed back 1.5%. But both currency pairs have very different forecasts from here..
Traders are struggling to see much upside in GBP v EUR at the moment and its easy to see why. The pair has been oddly 'well-behaved' so far this year, barely drifting from an extremely tight trading range of 1.16-1.1750 mid-market. Anything above 1.15 is deemed favourable by most (especially compared to last year) and Sterling has comfortably and consistently been above this level most of the year.
The problem is, September 2022 was the last time £-€ was any higher than it is currently. For the rate to go higher and consolidate there, it is going to need something special. If the ECB move faster than the BoE and by more on cutting interest rates, this could do it, but ifs and buts versus past performance will never win in this game..
With GBP v USD, traders only see downside. This is mainly down to how well the US is coping with higher interest rates, If the BoE cut interest rates before the Fed (now likely), we could eventually see the £ plummet to the 1.20's and beyond like we did in October/November last year.
EUR We have a 'super Tuesday' from the Euro-Zone this week which means we will likely see wild volatility on the day and days after. Because of the sheer number of economic releases and there importance, it's anyone's guess what happens to the Euro this week.
The German data alone are market movers, but with EU inflation & GDP offered at the same time it could be fireworks..
USD It's all eyes on the Fed this week to see firstly if they surprise markets with an interest rate cut (unlikely) and then to see if monetary policy stance has shifted (again unlikely). It could prove to be a bit of a non-event, but I wouldn't be betting on that to happen.
The US also offers jobs, confidence and PMI data to ensure we are in for an intriguing start to May..
Upcoming Data | Monday 29th April 2024 | 13:00 EU - German inflation 20:00 US - Treasury refunding financing estimates
| Tuesday 30th April 2024 | 05:30 EU - Dutch inflation 07:00 EU - German retail sales 07:45 EU - French inflation 08:00 EU - Spanish GDP 08:55 EU - German unemployment rate 09:00 EU - German & Italian GDP 09:30 UK - Mortgage approvals & lending 10:00 EU - Euro-Zone GDP & inflation 10:00 EU - Italian inflation 13:30 US - Employment cost 14:00 US - House price index 15:00 US - Consumer confidence |
Wednesday 1st May 2024 | 07:00 UK - Nationwide housing prices 12:00 US - Mortgage applications 13:15 US - Employment change 13:30 US - Treasury refunding announcement 15:00 US - Manufacturing PMI & construction spending 19:00 US - Fed interest rate decision & press conference |
| | Thursday 2nd May 2024 | 08:15 EU - Spanish manufacturing PMI 08:45 EU - Italian manufacturing PMI 13:30 US - Balance of trade & initial/continuing jobless claims 15:00 US - Factory orders
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| Friday 3rd May 2024 | 07:45 EU - Industrial production 08:00 EU - Spanish unemployment change 09:00 EU - Italian unemployment rate 10:00 EU - Euro-Zone unemployment rate 13:30 US - Non-Farm payrolls, unemployment rate average earnings 15:00 US - Services PMI
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