Marketwatch EU & UK

Daily Insights
February 8, 2024

  • flag united states 1f1fa 1f1f8The lack of any meaningful economic data over the past few days has kept currency markets on the sidelines, with many investors focusing on equity markets during US earnings season. However, recent Fed rhetoric continues with more central bank officials suggesting yesterday that they do not see an imminent need to cut interest rates. Recent remarks dovetail in with the message delivered by Chairman Jerome Powell, who last week emphasized that the Fed is not set to kick off interest rate cuts until policymakers are sure that inflation is heading towards the central bank’s 2% target. With the March policy meeting just six weeks away, a cut then seems unlikely with investors now looking to the May 1st or Jun 12th announcement for the first of probably three cuts of 25bp this year.
  • flag european union 1f1ea 1f1faThe US dollar and yields both dipped yesterday helping EURUSD rally a touch from its recent lows, however the pair remains below the key 1.08 level. Once again, we have limited data on the docket today, with just this afternoon’s weekly jobless claims from the US to look forward to. EURUSD has now bounced off 1.0725 three times, so that level remains key support, and needs to break to signal a fresh move lower.
  • flag united kingdom 1f1ec 1f1e7GBPUSD also caught a bid yesterday but remains within the recent 1.26-1.28 range which has held for some time. Cable continues to be influenced by the greenback and Fed policy, although the pair may come into its own next week as we look forward to a plethora of UK data including the key inflation report for January.

Economic Calendar

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GBP - RICS House Price Balance
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CNY - CPI y/y
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CNY - PPI y/y
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JPY - Economy Watchers Sentiment
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EUR - ECB Economic Bulletin
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USD - Unemployment Claims
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USD - FOMC Member Barkin Speaks
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GBP - MPC Member Mann Speaks
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USD - Final Wholesale Inventories m/m
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USD - Mortgage Delinquencies
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USD - Natural Gas Storage
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USD - 30-y Bond Auction
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AUD - RBA Gov Bullock Speaks
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JPY - M2 Money Stock y/y

Market Indicators

Currency Pairs
Pair High Low
eur/gbp 0.85377 0.85301
gbp/usd 1.26385 1.2625
gbp/aud 1.93775 1.93435
gbp/nzd 2.06742 2.06368
usd/jpy 148.662 147.927
eur/usd 1.07882 1.07742
gbp/jpy 187.749 186.867
eur/cnh 7.77919 7.7589
usd/cnh 7.21099 7.20109
Equities and Commodities
Nasdaq 100 17771.8
DOW 38687.8
S&P 500 4996.27
BRENT CRUDE 79.56
WTI 74.23
GOLD 2032.73

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.