The US Dollar has been trumped by Donald Trump after his disruptive comments following The Federal Reserve’s rate decision saw Cable float around the 1.30 area. Donald Trump stated that the central bank would be much better off cutting rates as US tariffs begin to take effect from April 2nd. This particular intervention shows the clear disparity between inflation and interest rates from the president, which has only gone further to cause uncertainty in the markets.
Sticking with Central Banks and rate decisions, the Bank of England have their decision at Midday today. Expectations suggest rates will be kept unchanged, and as ever the vote split between the members will be key. However, with average weekly earnings in The UK having grew by 5.9% year-on-year in the last 3 months, it further enhances the view that UK Inflation is heading one way, and ultimately in the wrong direction for The Bank of England. On the other hand, the unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 4.4% from previous figures, which will no doubt give ammunition to the policy members who are currently expected to back an interest rate cut.
Currently two of the nine members are expected to vote for a cut with their argument being based around a deteriorating economy. The ONS recently reported that vacancy numbers are relatively unchanged, and early estimates show an increase of 0.1% in the figures recorded in the last 3 months up to February. This could lead bring an end to the longer-term fall in vacancies that we have seen in The UK since 2022.
GBP/EUR 1.1926 GBP/USD 1.2946 GBP/AED 4.7564
GBP/AUD 2.0570 GBP/CHF 1.1413 GBP/CAD 1.8607
GBP/NZD 2.2532 EUR/USD 1.0841 GBP/ZAR 23.5844