Brexit and U.S Retail Sales Put the GBP and the USD in Focus

In This Article:

Earlier in the Day:

The economic calendar was on the quieter side through the Asian session this morning.

Economic data included August Business PMI numbers out of New Zealand and finalized July industrial production figures out of Japan.

Outside of the stats, the markets reacted further to the ECB monetary policy decision from Thursday and inflation figures from the U.S.

On the geopolitical front, the stage is set for the U.S and China to resume talks next month, which is market positive. As we have seen in the past though, pre-talk tweeting can be market destructive.

For Kiwi Dollar

The NZ Business PMI rose from 48.2 to 48.4 in August.

The PMI survey had yet to be made available at the time of writing.

The Kiwi Dollar moved from $0.64053 to $0.64015 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Kiwi Dollar up by 0.02% to $0.6407.

For the Japanese Yen

Industrial production increased by 1.3% in July, according to finalized figures, which was in line with prelim and forecast. In June, industrial production had tumbled by 3.3%.

According to finalized figures released by Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry,

  • Industries that mainly contributed to the increase were:

    • Motor vehicles

    • Chemicals (excl. inorganic, organic chemicals, and medicine)

    • Pulp, paper and paper products.

  • Industries that mainly contributed to a decreased were:

    • Inorganic and organic chemicals.

    • Petroleum and coal products.

    • Electrical machinery, and information and communication electronics.

  • Forecasts are for industrial production to fall by 1.6% in September.

The Japanese Yen moved from ¥108.137 to ¥108.141 upon release of the figures. At the time of writing, the Japanese Yen was down by 0.14% to ¥108.14 against the U.S Dollar.

Elsewhere

The Aussie Dollar was up by 0.12% to $0.6874, at the time of writing. An easing in geopolitical risk provided support early on.

The Day Ahead:

For the EUR

It’s a busy day ahead on the economic calendar. Key stats include finalized August inflation figures out of Spain and July trade and 2nd quarter wage growth figures for the Eurozone.

We can expect wage growth and trade data to have the greatest influence on the EUR.

Outside of the stats, will there be any Trump threats of tariffs following the ECB’s monetary policy decision on Thursday?

On the geopolitical front, there’s Brexit chatter to continue to monitor through the day.

At the time of writing, the EUR was up by 0.03% to $1.1068.

For the Pound

It’s a quiet day ahead on the data front. There are no material stats to provide the Pound with direction through the day.