Author: Terry Lovell (Head of Sales), Orbis Exchange

Market Report 2023-03-27

Market Report 27/03/23 - 31/03/23

Key Points

  • GDP Figures out for the UK
  • HICP Data out for the Eurozone
  • GDP Figures out in the US

GBP

Last week we had the BoE’s interest rate decision, this saw a small hike of 25 bps to 4.25%, before this result we had seen highs against the USD not seen for the last 6 weeks. After this result we did start to see the levels drop off, this is because the rate hike was not a big enough result to continue to boost the Pound against its competitors. We also had the CIPS Services PMI, this showed us a result over the needed score of 50 to show expansion, so this helped the pound have the strong week that it did. This week we have GDP figures being released in the UK, if we see a rise in these figures then this could be bullish for the Pound, if we see a drop from the previous result then this could negatively affect GBP quotes.

EUR

Last week we had the S&P Global Composite data come out for the Eurozone, this showed a good result, above the 50 points needed to signal growth. The biggest market movers last week for the Euro was the interest rate decisions from the UK and the US, because the ECB’s interest rate hike was the biggest out of the 3, this saw the Euro rise over 1% when the US interest rate decision was released. This week we have inflation data for the Eurozone and Germany, this will show us how effective the ECB’s interest rate hikes have been, and if they need to continue to have their hawkish outlook. If we see a rise in inflation then this could be seen as positive for the EUR, but if we see a drop, then this could have a negative effect on EUR quotes.

USD

The Fed had their latest interest rate decision last week, this saw a hike of 25 bps, this was not the result the market had expected, as we had the Fed say a few weeks back that they are willing to ramp up the pace of interest rate hikes. The reason for this decision is because there is too much uncertainty around the Fed’s policy after the crisis with Silicon Valley Bank collapsed. This week we have GDP figures being released in the US, this is a big piece of data as recession fears are starting to mount in the US, if we see a positive result then this could be seen as USD bullish, if we don’t and see a negative result, then this could have a negative effect on the Dollar.