Forex News for Cable

The U.K. claimant count rose a slightly stronger than expected 9,000 in May, but the jobless rate stayed at 2.5%. The rise was slightly stronger than the forecast of an 8,000 increase, and April's claimant count was revised up to a rise of 11,200, which was the biggest increase since April 2006. Meanwhile, average earnings, excluding bonuses, rose by 3.9% in the three months to April from a year earlier, matching the level it last reached in June 2006. That was up from 3.8% in the three months to March.

The UK's global trade deficit widened at GBP7.6B in April from GBP7.4B in March, the Office for National Statistics says Wednesday. Market participants had been expecting a GBP7.4B deficit, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey of economists. Meanwhile, the non-EU trade deficit was GBP4.2B compared with GBP3.8B in March; economists were expecting that number to stay flat.
Sterling falls to the day's lows against a range of currencies after a poor set of UK data. Jobless claims rose as did average earnings, while the global and non-EU trade deficits both widened beyond forecasts. GBP/USD trades at 1.9512 from 1.9550 prior the numbers, EUR/GBP is up 15 ticks to 0.7935,, while GBP/JPY, which has seen some good flows of late, is down at 209.50.

The 9K rise in UK jobless claimants in May prompts a rally in short sterling contracts Wednesday as market speculation of higher interest rates recedes. Average earnings rise by 3.8% year-on-year, ex-bonuses +3.9%, versus forecasts +4.1% and +3.8% respectively. September short sterling is currently up 0.135 at 93.895, from around 93.81 prior to the numbers, with December up 0.135 at 93.81, from around 93.75 prior to the numbers.

0 comments: