The British pound surged to a fresh 26 year high on the back of overall dollar weakness and stronger second quarter GDP growth. A rise in oil extraction in the North Sea provided an unexpected surprise to GDP growth. With the market so bullish British pounds to begin with, stronger growth will only give those looking for another rate hike greater confidence.
The futures curve is still pricing in 6 percent interest rates by the end of the year, but the question is whether this will come in the third or fourth quarter. Last week?s less hawkish minutes suggests the latter and unless we get some surprising comments from BoE officials, we will not get much more clarity next week. The only pieces of data on the UK economic calendar are house price reports and CBI Industrial trends survey.