Marketwatch EU & UK

Daily Insights
September 22, 2023

The Bank of England left rates unchanged after a 5-4 knife-edge vote, with Governor Andrew Bailey making the final decision to put 2 years of tightening on hold, leaving the Central Bank’s benchmark rate at 5.25%. This decision came in as a surprise, and although the BOE’s guidance suggests further tightening in case inflationary pressures persist, the data has turned dovish and should not cause any alarm that would lead to further hikes. In conclusion, the BOE may have reached the end of its hiking cycle.

The yen has weakened past the 148 level against the greenback after the Bank of Japan left its policy unchanged and offered no clear guidance on a potential shift in its policy stance. EUR/USD trades mid 1.06-1.07 ahead of today’s Eurozone, Germany, and France PMIs. GBP/USD continues to lose, holding under 1.23 after UK Retail sales for August accelerated, showing that shoppers got back to the stores following July’s rainy weather. EUR/GBP sits at 0.8679, not far away from key resistance at 0.87, July’s high, where the BOE surprised the market with a pause. AUD/USD gains, holding above 0.64.

Have a good weekend.

Economic Calendar

:
JPY - Flash Manufacturing PMI
:
JPY - Monetary Policy Statement
:
JPY - BOJ Policy Rate
:
GBP - Retail Sales m/m
:
JPY - BOJ Press Conference
:
EUR - French Flash Manufacturing PMI
:
EUR - French Flash Services PMI
:
EUR - German Flash Manufacturing PMI
:
EUR - German Flash Services PMI
:
EUR - Flash Manufacturing PMI
:
EUR - Flash Services PMI
:
GBP - Flash Manufacturing PMI
:
GBP - Flash Services PMI
:
GBP - CBI Industrial Order Expectations
:
CAD - Core Retail Sales m/m
:
CAD - Retail Sales m/m
:
USD - FOMC Member Cook Speaks
:
USD - Flash Manufacturing PMI
:
USD - Flash Services PMI
:
USD - FOMC Member Kashkari Speaks

Market Indicators

Currency Pairs
Pair High Low
eur/gbp 0.86784 0.86672
gbp/usd 1.22936 1.22688
gbp/aud 1.91796 1.90996
gbp/nzd 2.07432 2.0668
usd/jpy 148.256 147.505
eur/usd 1.06624 1.06408
gbp/jpy 182.045 181.198
eur/cnh 7.79793 7.7652
usd/cnh 7.3168 7.29352
Equities and Commodities
Nasdaq 100 14748.4
DOW 34140.6
S&P 500 4343.48
BRENT CRUDE 93.66
WTI 90.2
GOLD 1925.06

This document is for information purposes only and does not constitute any recommendation or solicitation to any person to enter into any transaction or adopt any trading strategy, nor does it constitute any prediction of likely future movements in exchange rates or prices or any representation that any such future movements will not exceed those shown on any illustration. All exchange rates and figures appearing are for illustrative purposes only. You are advised to make your own independent judgment with respect to any matter contained herein.