Today's Highlights
US data stronger but dollar slips
BOE member puts back rate hike expectations
Canadian inflation due today
FX Market Overview
Team Halo Financial went Karting yesterday evening in electric karts on a two story track. It was fantastic but there was the odd crash or two so don't be surprised if your Halo contact sounds like they are in pain today...they probably are. If you have one near you though, I can highly recommend TeamSport Indoor Karting. It was excellent fun but; a word of caution. You will see the competitive side of your staff or friends. Are you ready for that?
Sterling had another mediocre day as news reports kept the questions over the timing of the BOE's 1st interest rate hike in check. The Chief Economist of the Bank of England Andrew Haldane said yesterday that UK interest rates were likely to stay low for longer than he and the rest of the bank members thought they would a few months ago. The EU's economic woes and the unconvincing growth in the UK economy were at the heart of his views and that is to be expected.
The rest of the markets were very volatile, largely driven by some surprising US data. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing index came in at 20.7; above forecast but below last month's 22.5 reading. However, the initial jobless claims were significantly lower at 264,000. That's down 23,000 on last week and much much lower than the 290,000 the markets were expecting. Us industrial production was also much better than forecast at 1.0% growth on the month. Oddly, the US Dollar weakened on the day. Other than a bit of housing market data, today's US data diary is a bit lame really. The US Dollar is likely to head into the weekend with more of a slither than a spring.
Head north though; arrive at 12:30 GMT and the Canadian inflation data will assail you. There is a chance the annualised figure will reflect a drop to 2.0% and the Canadian Dollar is already a tad weaker in anticipation of that. Since the bounce we saw in the 2nd week of September, the Sterling - Canadian Dollar exchange rate has been on an upward trajectory. That is likely to continue if the real data matches the forecasts.
That's about your lot for the week. I hope it has been a good one for you. I'll leave you with this story. Robbers put a gun in the face of shop assistant Lolita Bezrukova in a store in Irkutsk in south-eastern Russia. Lolita didn't take kindly to being threatened by one of the armed men so she grabbed a 5 litre bottle of mineral water and swung it at him. That panicked the robbers who fles empty handed, pursued by the diminutive assistant. That's not a story they are going to tell their mates in the pub is it. Lolita, you are my latest hero.
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