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• Posted by currencies in Bank of England, Bremain, Brexit, Budget, Currency, David Cameron, Dollar, Economy, EUR, GBP, Sterling, UK, Uncategorised
• May 16, 2018
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Fed speakers continue to leave open the door to raising rates three more times this year if the data starts to accelerate. The US economy continues to perform well, although questions remain over Europe and the UK, which has been the main driver of the USD recently.

It will, therefore, be interesting to hear whether ECB President Draghi will try to paint a more optimistic picture of the European economy going forward.

In the US, industrial production is expected to have risen in April for the third month in a row. This partly reflects a pickup in activity in the oil sector in response to the surge in oil prices, but manufacturing output is also growing and is now more than 3% higher than a year ago.

Key events from the calendar today are the Eurozone inflation figures at 11 am followed by Mario Draghi speaking in Frankfurt at 1 pm.

No UK data today so Sterling is expected to have a quiet day, however, we could see the pound slide against the Euro if Draghi talks about ECB monetary policy tightening or forward guidance.

In other news, Britain will not ask for an extension to the near-two year transition period with the European Union after Brexit when the government publishes its new detailed plans next month.