Forex Flash: European data mutes GBP - Investec

FXstreet.com (Barcelona) - Investec Treasury analysts note that news from a the European front this morning was that the GfK consumer confidence index slipped back to -27 in April, having been stuck at -26 for the previous three months, which was also the expectation for April’s reading.

While at first sight this looks like gloomy news we would point out that the wider, official measure of household consumption has risen for five successive quarters, and that evidence from indicators such as retail sales suggest that Q1 2013 will make it six in a row. They see that the effect of this on the currency markets has been muted with GBPUSD and GBPEUR opening largely unchanged at 1.5485 and 1.1835 respectively. With UK data on the lighter side, they add that Sterling’s ability to battle back towards yesterday’s highs of 1.5550 in cable and 1.1900 in GBPEUR will be led by factors abroad.