Price pressures in the U.K. fell to its lowest level since April 2007 as the headline reading for inflation slipped to an annual rate of 2.9% in March from 3.2% in the previous month. Furthermore, the core CPI rose to 1.7% from 1.5% in February amid expectations for a flat reading.
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GBPUSD – Price pressures in the U.K. fell to its lowest level since April 2007 as the headline reading for inflation slipped to an annual rate of 2.9% in March from 3.2% in the previous month. Furthermore, the core CPI rose to 1.7% from 1.5% in February amid expectations for a flat reading, while the retail price index held steady from the previous month, which lowered the annual rate to -0.4% from 0.0% in the previous month, and marked the first annual decline since 1960. Falling commodity prices paired with the downturn in the global economy has certainly dampen the outlook for inflation, and price growth is likely to fall further throughout the year as the region faces a deepening recession. Discuss the topic and your trade ideas in the GBP/USD Forum.
EURUSD – The German ZEW investor confidence survey rose to a two-year high as the index increased to 13.0 from -3.5 in March amid expectations for a rise to 2.0. However, the current economic assessment amongst investors weakened further as the index slipped to -91.6 from -89.4, which continues reflect a dour outlook for Europe’s largest economy, while investor confidence in the Euro-Zone also increased to 11.8 from -6.5 in the previous month. The data suggests that investors are becoming less pessimistic towards the economy as a result of the extraordinary efforts taken on by the ECB and Chancellor Angela Merkel but nevertheless, ECB board member Noyer and Ordonez repeated that the Central Bank has room to lower borrowing costs further, and the comments suggests that the central bank will cut the benchmark interest rate by another 25bp in May as policymakers attempt to put a floor at 1.00%. Discuss the topic and your trade ideas in the EUR/USD Forum.
