httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLLs6sT73eE

Data from the UK yesterday showed that Mortgage lending only rose a touch in April from 49.0K to 49.9K. This news from the Bank of England has prompted the belief that the housing market is still lurking at relatively low levels, as in April last year the borrowing was almost double what it is this month. Economists are voicing their opinion that the recent gain in house prices is likely to be unsustainable. Net Consumer Lending jumped slightly higher over April, but Consumer Credit dropped by 0.1% compared to March, which is negative for sterling as it seems that individuals are borrowing less and therefore will dampen economic growth.  With many preoccupied yesterday with the BOE report, paired with this mixed data, led to an extremely volatile day. Vince Cable has called for an urgent review of all regulation inherited from the Labour Government, which is intended to create change in the way European Law is being implemented.

News is still not good for the poor Euro, with the weekends’ meeting of finance ministers prompting the UK and the US to call for more transparency in the markets and major institutions. Already under strain by a market that is unsure it can evade a double dip recession, investors need some sort of guarantee in order to reinvest their capital in the troubled economy. Making matters worse on Wednesday, it appears that Iran is looking to unload 45 billion euros from its reserves which also knocks the euro. Yesterday also saw Greece explain a privatisation programme designed to raise at least €3bn by 2014 and ease the huge public debt. Germany have agreed to widen their ban on speculative trades by expanding the restrictions they have in place on naked short selling to include all shares, in the hope that it will help sharpen financial speculation which Merkel believes is to blame for the debt crisis.

Dollar is still feeling the effects of risk appetite, with its security as a haven currency being tested over the past few days. However, equity markets still continued to gain steadily over yesterday indicating a rise in investor sentiment. The news from Iran was also a boost to dollar as it means the dropped euros would be swapped for USD and gold, so this is a serious sign that euro is not being treated as the worldwide wealth store it once was thought to be.

Today is a busy day for US and European data, with the EMU Retail sales kicking off the action and showing the performance of the retail sector in the short term for the EU. The States then get into gear with ADP Employment change, Factory Orders, Initial Jobless and ISM Non-Manufacturing. This list of important releases should have some effect on the USD as they give a pretty clear indication of what is going on in the US economy.