Good morning,
We had a relatively quiet day yesterday for economic news with the new Omicron variant taking the headlines. GBP-USD starts today where it was yesterday in the mid 1.32’s. GBP-EUR is slightly down by 0.12% which is likely linked to the better than expected GDP figures out of the Eurozone for Q3, up by 3.9% vs the expected 3.7%. A WHO official has reported that existing vaccines should still protect people who contract the Omicron variant from severe Covid cases. The findings are based on blood tests from 12 individuals in South Africa and continued testing will be taken from a larger pool in the coming days/weeks. The UK’s continued push to get vaccine boosters to all adults by early next year should in theory make it one of the best protected places in the developed world against Omicron. It has now given the booster to over 20 million people.
Even with the decreased worry on the Omicron variant, its looking likely that the Bank of England wont hike interest rates in December. Market sentiment has the rate hike lined up for early 2022 with the chances of a hike in December down to 33% according to OIS markets. Generally, the Bank of England don’t make any drastic changes to fiscal policy in December, all will be revealed next week.
Have a great day.
Josh Saunders, Senior Relationship Manager.
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References
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-59573037
https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/eur/16292-pound-to-euro-market-rebound