UK steel industry a cause for concern

Without there being any data of note from the UK yesterday, GBP took direction from elsewhere – we saw the pound reverse losses against euro to hit a two week high (1.3691 IB), while against the dollar the pound remained largely flat.

One thing to note in the UK is the possible demise of Britain’s steel industry, something that has been brought about by China’s stock dumping and the drop in global steel prices. This has a huge implications for the UK’s (and Europe’s) steel industries, with 1700 jobs now at immediate risk and more down the line.

Again, there won’t be any data releases of note today – the only thing to pay some attention to being a Treasury Select Committee meeting later this morning.

The single currency didn’t have the best start to the week, with losses made against its major counterparts – this was largely on the back of market sentiment than from market data. There is also worry that the QE that’s been implemented is perhaps not as effective as many had hoped for and that there are not the tools available at present to stave off deflation. In Greece, the cause of so much concern at the start of the year, we’re now seeing calls to privatise the banks whilst creating a more beneficial environment for foreign investment.

The dollar had an uneventful Monday without any releases to pay attention to. What we did see, though, was better-than-expected home sales and the expectation that the coming months will also yield to an upbeat housing market. This had no impact on dollar strength, however. There was also no mention made of interest rates at an FOMC meeting – but USD ultimately did makes gains over its competitors.

Today from the US we’ll see housing starts and building permits data for last month, as well as a talks by a number of FOMC members this after – will they mention anything else about interest rate hikes, however? That is the question…