Sterling has traded to a 5 year low in the currency markets against the US dollar on the back of poor construction and production data released by the ONS. On Thursday the Bank of England’s MPC announced their decision to leave interest rates and quantitative easing unchanged as expected, with the pound weakening following disappointing trade deficit figures. Thursdays close was the lowest level for Cable since June 2010, in part due to a strong dollar combined with the weak UK d…

The UK is headed towards its closest general election in modern history, with voters going to the polls on Thursday 7 May 2015. The first past the post political system didn’t produce the expected majority government in 2010, with the same outcome expected next month. Parliament has been dissolved by the current PM, David Cameron, and the official campaigning period has begun. In reality the preparations for the election started 18 months ago, with the leaking of policies and pol…

Guest Blog, Abshire-Smith Iraq Country Manager The oil price surged nearly 4% as crunch talks aimed at settling a dispute over a nuclear weapons programme for Iran appeared to stall and official figures showed that stockpiles of U.S. crude had risen by less than had been feared by 4.8 Million Barrels. This is a day after crude prices slid for a third day on fears of a nuclear deal between Iran and major world powers that would allow the Islamic Republic to release more than 1 mil…

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The March Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing PMI reading was an 8 month high, as growth of production and new orders accelerated. The seasonally adjusted reading increased from February’s 54.0 to 54.4, matching analysts’ estimates. The report from Markit highlighted that the input costs and selling prices had both, which is to be expected with zero inflation, and oil prices significantly. The 54.4 figure is well above the 50.0, which signifies expansion, carrying on from yesterda…

The crisis in Yemen has escalated towards an all-out civil war. The president of Yemen, Abdrabbuj Mansour Hadi is reported to have fled the country as forces attempt to fight back against Shia rebels known as Houthis. The Houthis are reportedly backed by Iran and been extending their control over the country since September. On Wednesday Saudi Arabia launched air strikes against the Houthis in support of the “legitimate government,” which has subsequently been condemned by…

The ONS has released the inflation data (CPI) for February, which has fallen to zero. Governor of the BoE Mark Carney had warned markets that in the near term inflation would fall, but in 12 months pick up quickly. The latest release from the ONS is the lowest level for CPI since inflation estimates began in 1988. The ONS release highlighted the slowdown in inflation to price movements in recreational goods, food and furnishings. This reading was key for policy makers as the primary impact f…

Bank of England Minutes 9:30am At 9:30am London the Bank of England minutes for the MPC meeting held on the 4 and 5 March will be released. The expectation is that the members voted unanimously (9 - 0) to leave interest rates and asset purchases unchanged. Traders will be checking through the minutes of the meeting for any signals of the timing of the tightening of policy. This month is six years that the base interest rate has been held at the record low of 0.50%. Employment da…