#Daily_market_report GBP/USD slightly up ahead of UK employment data - Pound Holds Gain Versus Euro Before BOE Minutes - EUR/USD on a better mood, around 1.1580 The British Pound is gaining strength against the US dollar ahead of the data in the UK,which is likely to show the unemployment rate ticked down in November. The GBP/USD pair currently trades 0.17% higher at 1.5169 levels. A sharp recovery was seen yesterday from the low of 1.5057 as the Gilt yields edged higher. However, the pair faced rejection yet again near 1.52 levels. Investors now turn their attention towards the Bank of England (BOE) minutes and employment data due for release today. The BOE minutes are unlikely to come-up with surprises. The possibility of a dovish tilt with regards to the interest rate hike is already priced-in by the markets. Meanwhile, the jobless claims in December are seen at -25K, while the unemployment rate is seen at 5.9% in November. The pair is likely to trade in a sideways manner ahead of the BOE minutes and the UK data. The pound held a gain versus the euro before the Bank of England publishes the minutes of its latest policy meeting amid speculation the European Central Bank will expand stimulus in the currency bloc. The pound was little changed at 76.26 pence per euro as of 7:38 a.m. London time after gaining 0.7 percent on Jan. 20. The U.K. currency reached 75.96 pence per euro on Jan. 16, the strongest level since February 2008. Sterling rose 0.2 percent to $1.5167. U.K. annualized inflation cooled to 0.5 percent in December, matching a record low, and Carney said the rate could fall further in the coming months. Since August, policy makers Ian McCafferty and Martin Weale have voted to increase interest rates. Last month they said officials should look through the short-term price movements that had pushed inflation down to 1 percent, and a drop in unemployment was “consistent with the rapid absorption of slack.” Wages excluding bonuses grew 1.9 percent in the three months through November from a year earlier, up from 1.6 percent in the three-month period ended in October, economists forecast in a Bloomberg News survey before the the Office for National Statistics releases the data. The U.K. jobless rate declined to 5.9 percent, the lowest since 2008, from 6 percent, a separate Bloomberg survey showed. After dipping to 1.1540 in early trade, EUR/USD met buying interest and escalated to session tops in the boundaries of 1.1590 on Wednesday. While rumours regarding the potential size of the quantitative easing programme (to be unveiled by the ECB tomorrow) continue to build up amongst traders, the pair remains locked within the low-1.1600s and 1.1540. ECB President Mario Draghi will announce a 550 billion-euro ($636 billion) bond-purchase program this week, according to economists in a Bloomberg survey. The median estimate of the size of the package tops the 500 billion euros in models presented to central bank officials this month. Have a good day!
Posted on: Wed, 21 Jan 2015 09:02:05 +0000
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