Another week, another standstill in Brexit talks? Or can the BOE decision steal the spotlight this time?
Here’s what pound traders are looking out for this week.
Mid-tier U.K. data
- Claimant count change (Dec. 15, 8:00 am GMT) to show 10.5K increase in joblessness, average earnings index to climb from 1.3% to 2.2%
- Headline CPI (Dec. 16, 8:00 am GMT) to dip from 0.7% to 0.6%, core figure to fall from 1.5% to 1.4%
- December manufacturing PMI (Dec. 16, 10:30 am GMT) to improve from earlier 55.6 figure
- December services PMI (Dec. 16, 10:30 am GMT) to rise from 47.6 to 50.5
- Retail sales (Dec. 17, 8:00 am GMT) to post 4.0% slide after earlier 1.2% gain
BOE policy decision (Dec. 17, 1:00 pm GMT)
- No actual changes to interest rates and asset purchases expected
- MPC minutes to reflect unanimous vote to keep monetary policy unchanged
- Central bank officials might discuss contingency plans in the event of a “no deal” Brexit
Brexit developments
- Officials are still scrambling to come up with an agreement before the U.K. leaves the EU by the end of this month
- European Commission President Von der Leyen said she had a “constructive and useful phone call” with PM Johnson, in which they discussed “major unsolved topics.”
- Talks have been extended to early this week, but officials have been urged to stick to their “no deal” promise if negotiations still break down
Technical snapshot
- Most GBP pairs are giving off bullish vibes in the oversold region, except for Cable, Guppy, and EUR/GBP
- Moving averages also place GBP/JPY in bullish territory, along with EUR/GBP and GBP/USD
Missed last week’s price action? Read GBP’s price recap for Dec. 7 – 11!
