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

Market Report 10:04:23 - 14:04:23

Market Report 10/04/23 - 14/04/23

Key Points

- GDP figures out for the UK

- Retail sales figures out for the Eurozone

- CPI data released in the US

GBP

Last week we saw the pound move to the strongest point against the USD for the last 9 months. This Followed CIPS Composite PMI results, this saw the same result as the previous release indicating steady growth. We saw the financial year end last week, moving forward the treasury for the UK has raised the threshold at which you start paying the higher tax rate to allow for wage and price inflation for everywhere except Scotland. This week we have GDP figures being released, if we see a rise in these figures then this could have a bullish effect on the poundand will encourage future interest rate rises, however t if we see a drop in these figures from the previous result, then this could have a negative effect on GBP quotes this week especially if a further slowdown is indicated. .

EUR

The S&P Global Composite PMI released last week showed contraction in both the Manufacturing and Services industries in the EU, despite this, the Euro reached highs against the Dollar not seen in the last 2 months. A lot of this came of the back of USD weakness however as against GBP the Euro was trading at one of its weakest points all year. We saw Emmanuel Macron, the French president, visit China last week. He met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and insisted he should convince Russia to make peace, this could cause volatility in the market depending on the response from Russia. This week we have Retail Sales figures being released, if we see a rise in these figures then this could have a positive effect for the Euro, although if we do see a drop in these figures, then this could be seen as bearish for the Euro. We also have HICP data being released in Germany, the Eurozone’s biggest economy, if we see a rise in inflation then this typically leads to a positive outcome for the EUR as we could see bigger interest rate hikes because of this. Spain last week indicated a massive drop in inflation mainly off the back of a fall in energy prices, if this is translated across the continent it may lead to some Euro weakness across the board.

USD

Last week was the worst performing week we have seen from the USD so far this year, the Dollar weakness we saw last week had its competitors hitting highs we haven’t seen for a while. This is mainly due to the further continuance of BRICS, (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) all expressed an interest in ditching the US Dollar and their reserve currency. This week we have inflation data being released in the US, this is a chance for the US to gain back against its competitors, if we see a rise in inflation levels then this could be seen as positive for the Dollar as the Fed are expected to pull back on interest rate rises over the coming months. If we see a continued drop in the figures -as expected- then this could have a negative effect on the USD. We also have Retail sales figures being released this week, should we see a rise then this could be USD bullish, whereas a drop in figures could negatively affect USD quotes this week.