020 7898 0500Yesterday we saw the dollar strengthen against competitors like sterling. This was due to poor UK manufacturing data, released at -0.1% compared to the forecast 0.1%. This fuelled sterling to fall below the 1.50 mark at one point, nearly reaching an eight-month low. Shortly after, we saw the US NFIB Business Optimism Index released at 94.8 compared to the forecast of 96.6 which led the dollar to lose some of its strength gained earlier in the day.
We have no real significant US data throughout today. On Thursday and Friday though we have the releases of employment data, inflation data plus retail sales figures. With the Federal Reserve rate hike decision around the corner, markets are looking for clues as to when a rise may potentially happen. The Federal Reserve have made it clear that they will proceed with caution after the first hike, but some commentators are expecting it to hike rates four times before the end of 2016.
