A majority of the members of the Monetary Policy Committee will be speaking today, including Andrew Bailey, the BoE Governor, and could provide FX traders with some fresh insight as the possibility of a negative interest rate environment. Last month, the BoE had included that prospect as part of their so-called monetary tool box, but said that there didn't appear to be a need yet to use it. Analysts point out that, with the record low interest rates currently in place, plus the BoE's increased bond purchases, it remains to be seen if they can continue to postpone negative rates, given the comparative stagnation of the UK economy.
As of 11:09 am in London trading, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.3365, down 0.1223% and off the session high of $1.34034; the low was recorded at $1.33248 for the session. The EUR/GBP was lower at 0.8885 Pence, a loss of 0.2055%; the pair has ranged from 0.88806 Pence to 0.89138 Pence in today's trading day.
Upbeat Data Fails to Lift Euro
There was some improvement in Eurozone data points which were released earlier today. On an annualized basis, retail sales for Germany for the month of July was higher than expected at 4.2% against forecasts of a fall to 3% (from 6.7%, which itself was revised upward). In the Eurozone, the Producer Price Index for July beat analysts' forecasts at -3.3% and 0.6% (annualized and month-over-month), respectively. That news failed to life the Euro beyond a brief knee-jerk reaction, with the EUR/USD trading at $1.1867, down 0.3828% and off the session trough of $1.18519.