UK Retail Sales Puts the Pound in the Spotlight

Earlier in the Day:

It was a quiet start to the day on the economic calendar this morning. The Kiwi Dollar was back in action this morning.

For the Kiwi Dollar

Business PMI figures were in focus in the early hours.

In August, the Business PMI tumbled from 62.6 to 40.1. The PMI had risen from 60.7 to 62.6 in July.

According to the August survey,

• Down by 22.1 points from July, the PMI avoided a fall to sub-30 levels seen amidst the level 4 lockdown of 2020.
• The production sub-index took the biggest hit, slumping from 63.9 to 27.7.
• New orders fell from 63.7 to 44.4, with deliveries and finished stocks also falling below the 50 mark.
• By contrast, the employment sub-index saw a more modest fall from 57.9 to 54.5.

The Kiwi Dollar moved from $0.70726 to $0.70715 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Kiwi Dollar was down by 0.01% to $0.7074.

Elsewhere

At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was flat at ¥109.730 against the U.S Dollar, while the Aussie Dollar was up by 0.04% to $0.7295.

The Day Ahead

For the EUR

It’s a relatively quiet day ahead on the economic calendar. Finalized August inflation figures for the Eurozone are due out later today.

With little else for the markets to consider, expect any upward revisions to influence the EUR.

At the time of writing, the EUR was down by 0.02% to $1.1765.

For the Pound

It’s a busy day ahead on the economic calendar. Retail sales figures for August are due out later this morning.

With the markets looking ahead to next week’s BoE monetary policy decision, we can expect Pound sensitivity to the numbers.

Following a pickup in inflationary pressure and better than expected employment figures, positive numbers would suggest a more hawkish MPC.

At the time of writing, the Pound was up by 0.02% to $1.3798.

Across the Pond

It’s a relatively quiet day ahead. Michigan consumer sentiment and expectation figures are due out later today.

With market sensitivity to consumer sentiment heighted as a result of the Delta variant, expect the numbers to influence market risk sentiment.

The U.S Dollar Spot Index ended Thursday up 0.41% to $92.932.

For the Loonie

It’s a particularly quiet day ahead for the Loonie, however. There are no major stats due out of Canada to provide the Loonie with direction.

The lack of stats will leave the Loonie in the hands of crude oil prices and market risk sentiment.

At the time of writing, the Loonie was up by 0.02% to C$1.2681 against the U.S Dollar.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.