Yesterday was another poor day for the pound, with no data out and uncertainty still in the air. On little news flow GBP slipped lower against all currencies in the afternoon session. With Bank of England Deputy Governor John Cunliffe stating that the UK economy has ‘clearly slowed this year’. While the EU’s Michael Barnier implied that negotiations for a trade deal could take up to 3 years. The stalemate in talks leave sterling floating whilst investors and trades wait.
Today’s GDP numbers are the preliminary look at how the UK economy grew in the third quarter. Expectations were for 0.3% however this was exceeded by a figure that read 0.4%. Beating the Q1 and Q2 figures; giving the pound a boost for the start of the morning.
USD
Quiet day in terms of US data yesterday with the Core Durable Goods Orders out today at 1.30. An announcement from the White House regarding the various candidates for the Federal Reserve Chairmanship is expected in the next 10 days.
EUR
On the Euro front it’s another quiet day economically ahead of tomorrow’s crucial ECB meeting. Expectations are that quantitative easing will be cut in half for the next 9 months, from €60bn a month to €30bn.