Nothing could topple the pound this Friday, with cable on track for its best week since 2009.
There were more than a few pieces of US data for the dollar to contend with this afternoon, and none of them positive. The headline figure was the retail sales reading, which fell from (a revised) 0.3% in July to -0.2% in August, with the decline blamed on Hurricane Harvey.
The hurricane’s impact was seen elsewhere; the capacity utilization rate slipped to a 5-month low of 76.1%, the industrial production reading plunged to -0.9% and consumer sentiment dipped to 95.3. Only the Empire State manufacturing index beat estimates, and even then it still fell from 25.2 to 24.4 month-on-month.
All of this just gave more juice to sterling, which at points climbed 1.5% against the greenback to hit $1.36, a level not seen since the days after the Brexit referendum. The pound was almost as rampant against the euro, where it jumped 1% to stay at an 8-week high. The euro did have some luck against the dollar, however, rising half a percent to re-cross $1.195.
With the pound only growing in stature there was no way for the FTSE to reduce its losses as the day went on. Instead the UK index remained down by nearly 90 points, barely clinging on above 7200 having dipped below that level at points during the afternoon.
The eurozone indices found no joy in the euro’s decline. The DAX fell 0.3%, but is still holding above 12500, while the CAC dropped 0.4% to dip below 5200. As for the Dow Jones, despite a meagre 10 point rise the index managed to hit yet another record high, and looks set to close the week above 22200 for the first time in its history.
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