Quiet end to the week punctuated by Canadian employment data

Today's Highlights

Quiet end to the week punctuated by Canadian employment data

FX Market Overview

The pound bounced around after it was reported that the UK trade deficit widened last month. That news was followed by the expected 'unchanged' decision from the Bank of England on both their base rate and QE budget. Although sterling slipped a little, it remains relatively strong against most other currencies.

By way of contrast, the Euro appears to be vulnerable. Mixed installation data from across the Eurozone was, on balance, mildly positive. However, the Euro failed tip react in a positive manner and it starts Friday in much the same position it started Thursday. In the background though is a story from Portugal of a huge private company, Espirito Santo International, which has tendrils in banking, commercial enterprises, utility companies and investment in Portugal and across Europe. The reports are that the company is in trouble, that its Swiss banking arm has delayed interest payments to investors. The ripple effects of a collapse would have serious implications. It's definitely a story to watch. This morning's German consumer price inflation data was a non-event. The figure matched last month's and the Euro remained unflustered.

The most interesting overnight news was a cooling of the Australian housing market. The number of new home loans was flat month on month and, whilst that was better than some forecasts, it still reflects less buoyancy in the housing market than previously. The Australian Dollar stayed with that theme and remained flat overnight.

This afternoon's only data of note is the Canadian employment report. Forecasts vary but there are a few analysts calling a rise in the unemployment rate. I am not an economist but I suspect the figure will still be 7.0% and that would marginally strengthen the Canadian Dollar.

And I'll leave you with a warning from the mobile phone market. Before you sell that mobile phone, you are likely to do a factory rest on it to wipe all your data off. Beware. When you do that on some older Android devices, the phone doesn't actually remove all the saved files. Researchers at a company called Avast studied 20 'wiped' phones and recovered more than 40,000 photos including many featuring women and men in various states of undress or nakedness. So, if you've been sexting or you just want to properly wipe your Android phone, be sure to encrypt all the files in the phones settings and then do a factory reset. Or you could just stop being so naughty.