
Please try another search
The British pound has posted slight gains on Tuesday. In the European session, GBP/USD is trading at 1.2302, down 0.60%.
UK debt costs soared in December, sending the budget deficit to a record 27.4 billion pounds. This was sharply higher than the November reading of 18.8 billion pounds and the consensus of 17.3 billion pounds. The drivers behind the sharp upturn were rising interest payments and government subsidies for gas and electricity. The government’s bill for the subsidies in December was some 7 billion pounds. Despite the grim debt news, the pound remains steady, thanks to broad US dollar weakness.
UK PMIs for December didn’t help matters, as both the Services and Manufacturing PMIs came in below the 50 level, which indicates contraction. Manufacturing rose slightly to 46.7, up from 45.3 in November and above the forecast of 45.0 points. The Services PMI fell to 48.0, down from the November read and the forecast, both of which were 49.9 points.
The soaring debt and soft PMIs are further signs of a weak UK economy. These are clearly not ideal conditions for raising interest rates, but with inflation at 10.5%, the Bank of England doesn’t really have much choice. Entrenched inflation could cause more damage to the economy than high-interest rates. The road back to low inflation promises to be a long one, with the BoE projecting that inflation won’t drop to 5% until late this year.
The US will release Manufacturing and Services PMIs, which are expected to remain in contraction territory. Manufacturing is expected to tick lower to 46.1 (46.2 prev.), while Services are forecast to dip to 44.5 (44.7 prev.). If the releases are softer than expected, the US dollar could lose ground as speculation will rise that the Fed may have to ease up on the pace of rates.
The EUR/USD formed a High 1 buy setup on March 27th and found buyers above the bar yesterday. A high 1 buy setup after a strong breakout, such as the rally up to March 23rd,...
UK credit and money supply data published on Wednesday mostly came out weaker than expected, indicating a continued tightening of financial conditions. The unexpected exception was...
Bullish: AUD/JPY currently at 88.37 in a channel in range. If we can break resistance here, we are looking for a continuation to the ATR Target/1.618 Fibo at 89.22 with a further...
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.