The pound was sluggish against the single currency yesterday as softer than expected retail sales figures for February worried investors. The inclement weather and poor economic conditions kept consumers away from the high street, with the monthly fall of 1.9% taking the annual growth rate to 0.4% - the weakest since 1995. Sterling was also under pressure following Wednesday’s failed gilt auction, the first failed auction since 2002, although yesterday did bring some relief to the market as a sale of £1.1bn of index-linked gilts due 2022 was 2.72 times covered.
Barclays bank are also expected to receive some brighter news today as they have passed an FSA stress test, the same one that resulted in Lloyds Banking Group participating in the governments asset protection scheme. The news will boost Barclays as it strives to keep out of the hands of the government.
The eurozone releases their industrial new orders data this morning, whilst within the UK GDP figures for the fourth quarter of 2008 are revealed.
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