Marketwatch EU & UK

Daily Insights
October 28, 2024

  • The US dollar starts the week on solid ground with the greenback rising against its G10 peers as markets prepare for a busy few weeks ahead. This is the final full week of campaigning ahead of the US election and markets have finally woken up to the political risks ahead of the 5 November election. The result may take a few days to filter through, but the race remains tight with just over a week until the polls close.
  • US data remains a key focus for markets, and we have a busy calendar in the coming days as market look for confirmation that the US economy is strong. Consumer Confidence due on Tuesday is expected to rebound slightly in October after the largest decline since August 2021. Investors will look to Wednesday’s GDP data for clues on the strength of the US outlook, with the print expected to run at a solid pace of 3.1% in the third quarter amid solid consumer spending. However, it’s not all positive, as recent data suggests a slowdown in hiring and this is likely to be confirmed in Friday’s Non-farm Payroll release. A disappointing print is expected with consensus coming in around 120k (down from last month’s 254k) and some analysts are even suggesting a negative print. Ahead of Friday’s payrolls we look forward to JOLTs on Tuesday, ADP Private Payrolls on Wednesday and weekly jobless claims on Thursday.
  • The single currency remains under pressure against the US dollar hovering around 1.08 this morning as markets await GDP and inflation data in the coming days. GDP data is expected to show the region growing by 0.2%, however Germany remains the weak link with data expected to show a mild recession over the summer. Headline inflation is likely to come in unchanged at 1.7% as ECB President Christine Lagarde recently suggested that risks to inflation are now more to the downside than to the upside.
  • This week’s budget in the UK will likely be the most significant for some time as Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to raise taxes to pay for recent government spending. Markets estimate that she will need to find saving of around GBP 30 billion to cover the shortfall.

Economic Calendar

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GBP - CBI Realized Sales
:
CNY - CB Leading Index m/m
:
CAD - BOC Gov Macklem Speaks
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JPY - Unemployment Rate

Market Indicators

Currency Pairs
Pair High Low
eur/gbp 0.83333 0.83116
gbp/usd 1.29723 1.29395
gbp/aud 1.96732 1.95563
gbp/nzd 2.17255 2.15416
usd/jpy 153.877 152.45
eur/usd 1.08016 1.0782
gbp/jpy 199.353 197.691
eur/cnh 7.71805 7.6921
usd/cnh 7.14986 7.128
Equities and Commodities
Nasdaq 100 20512.3
DOW 42325.7
S&P 500 5845.12
BRENT CRUDE 72.72
WTI 68.45
GOLD 2743.26

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.

About Simon Walker

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Simon Walker is head of the GPS Capital Markets trade desk in our London office where he is responsible for covering market risk in European hours. He has over 25 years’ experience in foreign exchange, working in both sales and trading.