- Pound (GBP) is holding steady after gains last week
- Rightmove sees the property market improve
- Euro (EUR) is flat amid a quiet economic calendar
- Eurozone inflation data is due tomorrow
The Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate is holding steady after gains last week. The pair rose 0.42% in the previous session, settling on Friday at €1.1736 and trading in a range between €1.1636 and €1.1753. At 15:00 UTC, GBP/EUR trades +0.01% at €1.1737.
The pound is unchanged at the start of the new week after booking gains last week.
Stronger-than-expected UK retail sales, which rebounded in July, helped sterling finish the previous week on a strong footing.
This week, on Monday, the UK economic calendar was quiet, with no major macro releases. Instead, the focus was on the UK housing market, which is showing signs of improving.
According to Rightmove, British estate agents have been seeing a pickup in buyer demand since the Bank of England cut interest rates on August 1st.
The property website Rightmove said inquiries in August were 19% higher than a year earlier, up from an 11% increase in July.
Improvement in the housing market comes after the Bank of England reduced interest rates by 25 basis points in the August meeting, which is positive for the mortgage market, affordability, and consumer confidence.
Looking ahead, the economic calendar for the UK is relatively quiet this week. Attention will be on Thursday’s PMI data, which could give more insight into the health of the UK economy, particularly the service sector, which is the dominant sector in the UK.
The euro is unchanged at the start of the week, due to a quiet economic calendar; however, things will pick up as the week moves forward.
Tomorrow, eurozone inflation data is due to confirm the preliminary reading confirming that Inflation rose 2.6% year on year in July, up from 2.5% in June. Core inflation is expected to hold steady at 2.9% in line with June’s reading.
The data comes as the market will be watching the minutes of the latest ECB meeting later in the week. These minutes could provide clues on when the central bank plans to cut rates again.