More data out this week to chew on after relative quiet

Last week might not have been one of the best for the pound as we saw it lose substantial value against the dollar. We did, however, see GDP numbers coming in as expected at 0.7%, and PMI data was seen to come in better than expected at 51.5 instead of 51.3, as expected, which ultimately allowed the pound to claw back some of what it has lost.

This week, GBP strength will be reliant on what the BoE has to announce in terms of monetary policy later this week. We’ll see both the minutes and Bank’s statement released at the same time, although, in all likelihood, the Bank will be waiting to see what the Fed has to say on interest rates in the States before making a move on rates in the UK.

In Europe last week, the Eurozone hit negative inflation again as prices dropped 0.1% last month. Factory output was seen to fall to a 5 month low, but we saw Mario Draghi try to counteract this negativity by declaring that the eurozone had seen “sustained growth” with the revised monetary policy being played out.

It’ll be a quieter week for data this week as we head into Q4. We’ll see some German and overall Eurozone PMI data out tomorrow, as well as a speech from Draghi on monetary policy.

Stateside, Chicago’s PMI and ISM manufacturing came in lower for last month which showed that the manufacturing sector is taking some strain. Non-farms also came lower than expected with a reading of 142K instead of the 203K expected. Unemployment remained unchanged at 5.1%.

Today we’ll see more manufacturing data for the industry as a whole, while later in the week we’ll have statements from Fed members, Bullard and Williams, as well as the all-important FOMC minutes.