By FXEmpire.com
Analysis and Recommendations:
The EUR/GBP ended the day close to the opening at 0.8121. The pair was pretty inactive today, as the pound has maintained its strength over the euro for most of the week.
The European Central Bank on Thursday left its main refi rate unchanged at 1%, as expected. Bank President Mario Draghi said the economic outlook remains subject to downside risks, tied in part to ongoing tensions in some sovereign debt markets. Draghi said the ECB will be on the lookout for signs. Draghi said there was “no contradiction” between euro-zone countries adopting a “growth compact” alongside a “fiscal compact.”
There was very little other news from the eurozone today. In the UK Services PMI was slightly under forecast but not enough to cause any currency movement.
Tomorrows main events are the European Retail Sales, and the US Nonfarm Payroll reports.
Economic Events for May 3, 2012 actual v. forecast
|
GBP |
Nationwide HPI (MoM) |
-0.2% |
0.5% |
-1.0% |
|
TRY |
Turkish CPI (MoM) |
1.52% |
1.18% |
0.41% |
|
GBP |
Services PMI |
53.3 |
54.6 |
55.3 |
|
EUR |
Interest Rate Decision |
1.00% |
1.00% |
1.00% |
|
USD |
Nonfarm Productivity (QoQ) |
-0.5% |
-0.5% |
1.2% |
|
USD |
Initial Jobless Claims |
365K |
380K |
392K |
|
USD |
Unit Labor Costs (QoQ) |
2.0% |
2.8% |
2.7% |
|
USD |
Continuing Jobless Claims |
3276K |
3311K |
3329K |
Economic Events for May 4, 2012 for the European and US Markets
08:15 CHF Retail Sales 1.2% 0.8%
Retail Sales measure the change in the total value of inflation-adjusted sales at the retail level. It is the foremost indicator of consumer spending, which accounts for the majority of overall economic activity.
10:00 EUR Retail Sales 0.3% -0.1%
Retail Sales measure the change in the total value of inflation-adjusted sales at the retail level. It is the foremost indicator of consumer spending, which accounts for the majority of overall economic activity.
13:30 USD Nonfarm Payrolls 170K 120K
Nonfarm Payrolls measures the change in the number of people employed during the previous month, excluding the farming industry. Job creation is the foremost indicator of consumer spending, which accounts for the majority of economic activity.
13:30 USD Unemployment Rate 8.2% 8.2%
The Unemployment Rate measures the percentage of the total work force that is unemployed and actively seeking employment during the previous month.
Government Bond Auctions (this week)
Date Time Country
May 08 09:15 Austria
May 08 09:30 Belgium
May 08 14:30 UK
May 08 15:30 Italy
May 08 17:00 US
May 09 09:10 Sweden
May 09 09:30 Germany
May 09 09:30 Swiss
May 09 09:30 UK
May 09 14:30 Sweden
May 09 15:30 Italy
May 09 17:00 US
May 10 15:00 US
May 10 17:00 US
May 11 09:10 Italy BOT auction
May 11 10:00 Belgium
Click here for updated EUR/GBP News.
Originally posted here
