Market Update: GBPUSD Seeing Support

Today’s News

• UK Claimant Change “Better Than Expected”
• UK MPC Minutes “No Changes”
• US CPI – Coming up at 8:30 EST

UK Claimant Change figures were better than expected this morning. Also, the Bank of England’s MPC Minutes revealed no changes from last month as all 9 members were in favor of leaving interest rates at 0.5%. On the news, the GBPUSD traded back towards the 1.5700 figure, holding currently just below. Coming up today, Forex traders will be awaiting US CPI figures. With the USDJPY finally gathering momentum as it nears 79.00 we could see additional momentum in the Forex pair after today’s CPI numbers. Also, a low reading could knock prices of Gold lower after they fell below 1600 again today.

Are you a Gold Bug? Jim Rogers and David Einhorn Are

Are you a gold bug? Views on whether to be in or out of gold are always a hotly contested subject.  Currently though, for of the happenings in the EU, on again off again US QE3 reports, Chinese slowdown, and BoJ intervention, Gold hasn’t done much of anything in the past few months.  Overall, since mid February, the precious metal has traded mostly between 1630 and 1690.  This lack of direction in Gold has caused an increase of chatter of what will be the next move.

GBPUSD – Traders Await UK CPI

After trending higher yesterday, the GBPUSD is off this morning as it is trading around 1.5865, as Forex traders await UK’s upcoming CPI data.  Expectations for the year over year figure are 3.4% versus last month’s number of 3.6%.  Although the fall in inflation follows the Bank of England’s forecast that the UK’s rising inflation last year was only a temporary condition, it does raise the question of whether the fall is due to a soft economy.  As such, if CPI is seen dropping faster than expected, it could lead to pound weakness as Forex traders may interpret the news as proof of a further economic slowdown.