Marketwatch EU & UK

Daily Insights
May 22, 2024

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  • The sterling advances against the greenback after inflation data showed that price pressures in the UK fell less than expected in April, increasing doubts to when the Bank of England will be able to cut interest rates.
  • CPI YoY for April rose 2.3%, down from 3.2% prior, while economists estimated a reading of 2.1%. Services inflation – a key measure that the BOE watches carefully – stayed at 5.9%, from previous 6% and the core reading fell to 3.2% from prior 4.2%.
  • While inflation is at its lowest since the summer of 2021, the evidence that prices are not cooling as quickly as estimated it is likely to make the BOE Governor Andrew Bailey and its colleagues hesitant in quickly cutting interest rates.
  • GBP/USD is up 0.3% and trades at 1.2747, looking to consolidate gains for a fourth consecutive day, while EUR/GBP falls 0.3% to 0.8518, the lowest since March 11.

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  • In the US, two Federal Reserve officials, Collins and Mester, reinforced the higher-for-longer message on the current borrowing cuts, and the need for patience as the central bank needs further evidence that inflation is on a solid path lower to be able to cut interest rates.

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  • In the euro-area, ECB’s President Christine Lagarde is due to speak later today and the Euro trades at 1.0860.

Economic Calendar

:
NZD - Official Cash Rate
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NZD - RBNZ Monetary Policy Statement
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NZD - RBNZ Rate Statement
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NZD - RBNZ Press Conference
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GBP - CPI y/y
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GBP - Core CPI y/y
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GBP - PPI Input m/m
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GBP - PPI Output m/m
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GBP - Public Sector Net Borrowing
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GBP - RPI y/y
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CNY - Foreign Direct Investment ytd/y
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GBP - HPI y/y
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EUR - German 10-y Bond Auction
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EUR - German Buba Monthly Report
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GBP - MPC Member Breeden Speaks
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GBP - Monetary Policy Report Hearings
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USD - Existing Home Sales
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USD - Crude Oil Inventories
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USD - FOMC Meeting Minutes
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NZD - RBNZ Gov Orr Speaks
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NZD - Retail Sales q/q
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NZD - Core Retail Sales q/q
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AUD - Flash Manufacturing PMI
:
AUD - Flash Services PMI

Market Indicators

Currency Pairs
Pair High Low
eur/gbp 0.85413 0.85162
gbp/usd 1.27494 1.27069
gbp/aud 1.91107 1.903
gbp/nzd 2.08602 2.0676
usd/jpy 156.391 156.141
eur/usd 1.08634 1.08518
gbp/jpy 199.361 198.527
eur/cnh 7.87168 7.862
usd/cnh 7.24966 7.24363
Equities and Commodities
Nasdaq 100 18735.9
DOW 39876.4
S&P 500 5326.2
BRENT CRUDE 82.17
WTI 78.02
GOLD 2414.78

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.