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A lack of data leaves FX markets in the hands of momentum and sentiment; 2 things that have not been sterling’s friend in recent sessions.

GBP did receive a jolt lower on news from HSBC in the morning. The bank did not release profit or earnings figures which a market will always fear and debts from its American sub-prime lending operation, Household, were still high.

Belief that the worst may be over was given a bump by Jean-Claude Trichet yesterday. Trichet, who was speaking on behalf of central banks and not just the Eurozone, spoke of signs of a ‘pause’ in the slowdowns seen in France, Italy, China and the UK.

Today is a big day for UK, US and German data. UK property data has already been released and the RICS house price balance rose for the 6 month in row posting a figure not seen since August 1999. Alongside that we have DCLG house prices and manufacturing and industrial production. US trade balance is also due today with analysts expecting any widening of the deficit to be largely dollar negative.

World First’s Twitter page is up and running and we will be live ‘tweeting’ the impact of all these data releases and how they affect the markets. Click below for up-to-date news on all things currency. The address is http://twitter.com/World_First

Please feel free to contact me jeremy.cook@worldfirst.com(jeremy.cook@worldfirst.com) if you have any questions or thoughts regarding these updates or if you are interested in a particular event in the calendar. If you would like to discuss your foreign exchange requirements, please contact our: Corporate Foreign Exchange on 020 7801 9050 or ourPrivate Client Currency Exchange on 020 7801 9080. Disclaimer: The above comments are only our views and should not be construed as advice. You should act using your own information and judgement. Although information has been obtained from and is based upon multiple sources the author believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy and it may be incomplete or condensed. All opinions and estimates constitute the author’s own judgement as of the date of the briefing and are subject to change without notice. Any rates given are “interbank” i.e. for amounts of £5million and thus are not indicative of rates offered by World First for smaller amounts. E&OE. Definitions of jargon/market terms can be found in our Glossary of Foreign Exchange Terms..

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