020 7898 0500Sterling saw a positive start to the week, moving higher against both the euro and the US dollar on a day with very little in the way of economic data released across the markets. With no new data releases to excite investors, sterling found support against the US dollar following the announcement that Goldman Sachs still expects the Bank of England (BoE) to raise interest rates in the UK within the first quarter of 2016 – citing a tightening job market, in which wage inflation has almost hit a six-year high.
In addition to this, sterling gained further ground against the euro in advance of the European Central Bank’s (ECB) meeting later this week – where further comment on their quantitative easing programme could be forthcoming and whether or not they will be increasing it come the new year. This enabled sterling to move to a fresh 3-week high against the euro.
Although there is still no fundamental data released from the UK today, we will hear the first of two speeches from BoE governor Mark Carney. With fellow monetary policy committee (MPC) member Kristin Forbes recently expressing a belief that interest rates will rise sooner rather than later, any support for these comments could see significant sterling benefit.
