The pound remained relatively flat during the overnight trade before British Retail Consortium releases its November sales figures. The headline sales gauge is expected to have deteriorated to –0.3% from 0.6% in October, and core sales excluding auto fuel to fall buy -0.4% from 0.6%. Separately, BoE publishes the results of its latest quarterly inflation attitudes survey, with the projection for the inflation expectations to remain unchanged at elevated levels. Finally, the CBI (Confederation of British Industry) publishes its industrial trends survey for December, with projections for the total orders balance to decline to –21 from –19 in November as manufacturing sector continues to suffer from weak demand.
The euro stopped its three day free fall on reports the European Central Bank is pushing to change capital rules for banks to prevent credit crunch. The single currency found support during early morning session before Spain prepares to sell 3.5 billion euros of government debt today. Separately, German and Eurozone PMI (Purchasing Manager Index) Manufacturing and Services releases came out today, and figures surprised on the upside supporting the single currency. Lastly, Eurozone CPI inflation release is due out today with expectations for the figure to remain flat at 3.0% in November.
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