Sterling consolidates on house and manufacturing data
The pound has consolidated its position after housing data showed an average £3,000 rise in the asking price for UK houses on the Rightmove website and manufacturing data showed a healthy gain in confidence suggesting confidence will continue to rise in the months ahead. The GBPUSD rate is up to $1.2250; a third of a cent down from yesterday’s peak. The GBPEUR rate is just as positive. This pair rose to €1.1460 and, although it is off those highs this morning, it is still above €1.1400. Sterling was knocked a little in early trade due to a record level of government debt, caused by the energy price support to homeowners. That is not really a surprise to be fair. The next big data item for sterling is tomorrow’s inflation data which should have eased a little.
RBA hints at pause but commits to conquering inflation
We had mixed messages from the Reserve Bank of Australia overnight. They hinted, very heavily that they may pause their interest rate hiking cycle at their next meeting but committed to doing, ‘whatever is necessary’ to bring inflation back under control. These, slightly mixed messages, produced some Australian dollar buying in a market thinned by a Japanese public holiday. The GBPAUD rate peaked at AUD 1.8335 and is down to AUD 1.8300 at the time of writing.
