Marketwatch EU & UK

Daily Insights
October 29, 2024

  • It has been a muted start to the week as markets tread water ahead of Friday’s US employment report and the elections in a week’s time. The big mover in G10 was the Japanese yen, with the currency weakening against the US dollar after the election over the weekend which means the ruling and opposition parties have one month to try to form a government. USDJPY moved as high as 153.88 yesterday after Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s party and coalition partner lost their majority in the election, although the pair clawed back some ground to briefly trade below 153.
  • EURUSD remains broadly unchanged with the pair trending lower as the US dollar and US politics continue to dominate. After trading as high as 1.12 at the end of last month, EURUSD is now testing support, with the May 9 low at 1.0724 potentially coming into play. Germany’s GfK consumer confidence index came out at touch better than expected this morning, rising to -18.3 (against estimate of -20.5) in November from a revised -21 in October. Germany continues to struggle, and markets eagerly await upcoming GDP data to see if the euro area’s powerhouse economy slipped into a recession over the summer.
  • The pound is rangebound as traders and investors remain reluctant to enter significant positions ahead of the UK budget. After a brief attempt to trade above 1.30 yesterday cable is back on a 1.29 handle ahead of support which comes in at 1.2908. EURGBP is hovering above the key 0.83 level which has been an important level since the Brexit vote back in 2016.

Economic Calendar

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GBP - BRC Shop Price Index y/y
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EUR - German GfK Consumer Climate
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GBP - M4 Money Supply m/m
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GBP - Mortgage Approvals
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GBP - Net Lending to Individuals m/m
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USD - Goods Trade Balance
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USD - Prelim Wholesale Inventories m/m
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USD - S&P/CS Composite-20 HPI y/y
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USD - HPI m/m
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GBP - Monetary Policy Report Hearings
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USD - CB Consumer Confidence
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USD - JOLTS Job Openings
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CHF - Gov Board Member Schlegel Speaks
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CHF - SNB Chairman Schlegel Speaks
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CAD - BOC Gov Macklem Speaks

Market Indicators

Currency Pairs
Pair High Low
eur/gbp 0.83403 0.83338
gbp/usd 1.29772 1.29579
gbp/aud 1.97541 1.9703
gbp/nzd 2.1716 2.1663
usd/jpy 153.244 152.755
eur/usd 1.08193 1.08059
gbp/jpy 198.789 198.034
eur/cnh 7.73967 7.721
usd/cnh 7.15951 7.13918
Equities and Commodities
Nasdaq 100 20413.5
DOW 42421.9
S&P 500 5835.44
BRENT CRUDE 71.3
WTI 67.34
GOLD 2750.91

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.