GBP: Eyes on Northern Ireland
EUR: Quiet ahead of the ECB
USD: In retreat for now
Sterling
Sterling’s focus for once today will not be on Covid, but yet another harmful issue that has spread uncontrollably: Brexit.
The Johnson government is set to publish a policy paper on the post Brexit trade in Northern Ireland today which, given form and expectation, is set to put the UK and EU back on a path of conflict over the Withdrawal Agreement and the ongoing trade links between the two.
In the short term, this may also hinder the ability of sterling to rebound especially against the euro which has drifted into the 1.15s.
Euro
We can’t see the euro doing too much today ahead of an ECB meeting tomorrow that is being so closely watched. Our central scenario remains that the ECB is happy to pressure the euro lower and halt any appreciation by emphasising the transitory nature of inflation and the recovery from the pandemic.
USD
After Monday’s run higher in the dollar caused by uncertain markets, a little bit of stability has come through in the past 24hrs, driven by opportunism more than anything. As we noted yesterday, some will see the move on Monday as a correction and some will see it as a harbinger of things to come. With an ECB meeting tomorrow that should be broadly risk supportive, we will need to see another strong move in US bond yields in our opinion for dollar to strengthen again from here.
Elsewhere
The slight retreat in the USD overnight has been enough to help commodity currencies recover as well. For most, swallowing the price move in oil will take a few weeks, alongside the negative effects of the delta variant on global confidence. For now, AUD, NZD, CAD etc may struggle for traction.
Market rates
Today’s Interbank Rates at 08:27 against sterling. Movement vs yesterday.
| Euro | €1.157 ↓ |
| US dollar | $1.360 ↑ |
| Australian dollar | $1.864 ↑ |
| South African rand | R20.00 ↑ |
| Japanese yen | ¥149.6 ↑ |
Have a great day.
