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Mixed Wage Growth Data Fails To Impress Sterling, Barely Lifts FTSE

Published 15/05/2018, 12:54
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The markets didn’t make much of the UK’s jobs data, the FTSE and sterling shrugging in the face of the latest figures.

As it has done since inflation began to sky-rocket, the wage growth numbers were the pick of the bunch on Tuesday. Including bonuses they fell faster than forecast; for the quarter to end of March the average earnings index came in at 2.6%, against the 2.7% expected and the 2.8% posted the month previous. Strip away bonuses, however, and things looked far perkier, with wage growth up 2.9% against the same 2.8% for the 3 months to February.

Both numbers are higher than March’s 2.5% inflation reading, allowing the UK’s long under-pressure real wages a bit of breathing room. Yet it wasn’t enough to lift the pound out of its current slump. Instead cable fell 0.2%, entrenched in its $1.35 to $1.36 May trading bracket, while against the euro, sterling sat flat at €1.136.

Not that the FTSE received much of a rub either. Despite Brent Crude teasing $79 per barrel, a move that further boosted index-colossi BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSa), the FTSE could only itself rise 0.2%. And while that kept it above 7700, it needs to do more than that if it wants to substantially build on its current levels and ascend towards mid-January’s in-reach all-time highs.

Turning to this afternoon and there could be some more FTSE-favourable forex movement dependant on the state of the US retail sales readings. The standard figure is set to slip from 0.6% to 0.4%, but with the core number bouncing from 0.2% to 0.5%. How the dollar reacts to this data, alongside the Dow Jones own post-bell performance, could dictate what the FTSE does with the rest of its Tuesday.

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