FX markets were fairly unmoved by the latest economic data out of the United Kingdom. The Office of National Statistics released inflation data today, which showed that prices rose at a level slower than analysts had predicted at only 1.9% in March, below the 2.0% expected and equal to the previous reading. Core inflation also failed to hit analysts' forecasts at 1.8% in March, year-over-year, essentially unchanged and less than the 1.9% anticipated. Producer prices also failed to meet analysts' forecasts, as did retail prices for the month of March. On the positive side, the CPI reading holding below the Bank of England's 2.0% threshold eases the pressure on the Monetary Policy Committee to consider a tighter rate environment.
As reported at 11:36 am (GMT) in London, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.305, up 0.107%; the pair has ranged from a trough of $1.3032 to a peak of $1.3067 in today's trading session. The EUR/GBP was trading at 0.8665 Pence, up 0.2232%; the pair is off the session peak of 0.86810 Pence while the low was at 0.86474 Pence.
Eurozone Data Eyed
Across the channel, Eurostat reported that the Eurozone's CPI was flat at 1.4% in March (year-over-year), with Core CPI rising to 1.0%, against expectations of 0.3% and an upwardly revised reading of 1.3% (from 0.3%). The EUR/USD was trading higher at $1.305, up 0.1808% and off the session peak of $1.3237 while the low was at $1.2791. Tomorrow, the Eurozone will have the preliminary figures for the Services and Manufacturing Sectors for April, with analysts calling for a a slight drop in the Services Sector reading to 53.2 and a rise to 47.9 in the Manufacturing data.