With no economic reports released from the U.K., the pound was swept along the risk appetite train on Friday as the currency bulls pushed high-yielding currencies up the charts. GBP/USD capped the day with a 58-pip gain while GBP/CHF was also able to bag a whopping 279 pips (no, it’s not a typo)!
Let’s hope that the pound bulls will be able to pick up steam this week! You see, while many investors do think that the U.K. is a relatively safe bet against its other European buddies, we can’t ignore that the economy has also been printing weak economic data lately. Heck, the Rightmove house price index released a few hours ago already came in with a 2.1% decline in August, which is even weaker than the 1.6% slip in July.
For now though, it might be good to keep close tabs on risk sentiment, as well as the economic data released from the U.K. this week.
Aside from the Nationwide consumer confidence data coming out some time in the next few days, we also have the CPI report tomorrow at 8:30 am GMT, followed by the claimant count change and the MPC meeting minutes on Wednesday also at 8:30 am GMT. Then, later in the week we’ll get hold of the U.K. retail sales report, and finish up the week with data on government spending.
Stay sharp on trading these reports!