GBP holds on as UK manufacturing improves [Video]

Today's Highlights

• GBP holds on as UK manufacturing improves

• Bank of England's Carney testifies to the Upper House

• Improving Eurozone data supports shared currency

FX Market Overview

The UK government is not being drawn into revealing its negotiating stance with regards to the Brexit deal and quite rightly so. Anyone who has ever negotiated on anything knows that would make a nonsense of the whole process.

Sterling held its own on Monday after the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) reported quiet optimism amongst industrialists. Export orders buoyed the market although employment in this sector fell for the first time in six years.

The Euro also held on after manufacturers reported their best Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for 30 months. Eurozone stock markets rose on the news and the euro made marginal gains against the USD and some other currencies. We also saw a slight uptick in the German Information and Forschung (IFO) business indices this morning and Italian Manufacturing data was very strong in August; that was also published this morning. So there is life in the Eurozone economy and that is a good thing.

Other than the US Consumer Confidence data, which is forecast to be quite upbeat, there really isn’t a lot of hard data to work with today. However, we will get a testimony from Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney when he visits the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee. Preparation for Brexit will be the hot topic, as well as the level at which inflation forces the Bank of England (BoE) to hike the base rate. We will watch with interest.

And I don’t want to depress anyone, but it will be Christmas in two months exactly. Don’t worry, though, that means there are sixty sleeps before you have to start your Christmas shopping.  Yay!