020 7898 0500A largely quiet end to the week for sterling saw it trade largely sideways against the US dollar, while making marginal gains versus the euro as the Greek government voted in favour of the latest bailout agreement with the nation’s creditors.
Another quiet week for the UK lies ahead on the data front, with only two key figures set for release. Inflation data from July will be the first of these on Tuesday – following on from the Bank of England’s (BoE’s) forecast of reduced inflationary pressure this is set to bear true with a consensus figure of 0% inflation anticipated. Any unexpected jump in this figure could see sterling pick up as talk of interest rates rises intensifies. Aside from this, the latest retail sales figures on Thursday will be the other key data release. This is set to show a 0.2% increase over the previous month, when a surprise decline in sales took investors by surprise. Any further surprises this time around could affect sterling’s performance; otherwise, we may see sterling at the mercy of other currencies.
