Dovish minutes from the MPC saw the pound stretched in early morning trading, only to recover and push new highs against the USD. The minutes from the August meeting revealed the committee voted for unanimously 9-0 to keep interest rates on hold, a shift in pattern from the 7-2 seen over the last few months.

When considering QE, it was once again only Adam Posen who voted in favour of increasing the asset purchase program, although some members of the committee did question whether there was a need for further stimulus. The statement hinted that if we see indicators pointing towards weaker economic performance it looks increasingly likely we will see another injection of QE

UK unemployment also arrived in the morning, providing sobering reading, as the headline figure saw unemployment rise to 7.9% (from 7.7%). This was for Q2 of this year, looking closer into the figures it shows that those claiming unemployment benefits rose from May to July, not faring well for Q3 of this year. It’s not a pretty picture the economy is painting with unemployment rising, growth slowing and high and sticky inflation

Some stability in global equities saw the USD fade in the afternoon, the move more pronounced against the pound than euro. The move looks like a delayed reaction to lasts weeks downgrade from the US, as globally there has been so much fear that the market hasn’t time to adjust

Out today on the data front, we have UK retail sales, with a consensus figure of 0.1% for YoY. US inflation figures arrive in the afternoon, the market is looking for a YoY figure of 3.3%

Latest exchange rates at time of writing