RBA on hold – Quelle surprise

'Cause nobody was expecting the Reserve Bank of Australia to move their base interest rate when they met early this morning, the confirmation that the base rate will remain on hold at 4.35% left the Australian dollar largely unruffled. We did see a flutter of Aussie dollar selling but the range in the?GBP/AUD?rate has been very narrow. 1 Aussie cent pretty well covers it. In the interbank market, this pair is back down to AUD 1.9000 this morning.

BOE and UK GDP in foreshortened week

We have to wait until Thursday morning for UK news and data to?really?kick in. Thursday will bring the Bank of England's interest rate decision. As with the Reserve Bank of Austral, Is expecting the Bank of England to move their base rates but the monetary policy reports and the voting pattern which will be released with the statement that accompanies the decision will be scrutinised for any hints of the path of UK interest rates in the months ahead. The market forecast is very mixed; many believe that the BOE will commence a series of interest rate cuts from June onwards but some are expecting that to be pushed out to September. Either way sterling will be volatile around Thursday morning because the interest rate decision is followed by UK economic growth data for the first quarter of 2024. This is preliminary data but the markets are expecting 0.4% growth in the first three months of the year bringing the average rate of growth to a magnificent 0.0%. As long as that annual figure doesn't slip into a negative,?sterling?ought to have a relatively good end to the week. As that this morning, in the interbank market On?pound?sterling, will buy USD 1.2540 and EUR 1.1645.

Today's Major Economic Releases

09:00 EUR Retail Sales (YoY)(Mar)?

Interbank Exchange Rates