Britain’s pound fell against the euro again today and was poised for a third consecutive week of losses as a global selloff in risky assets prompted investors to cut bets after a week of tepid U.K. data.
With growing market expectations that the Bank of England is unlikely to raise interest rates over the coming months due to Brexit-related risks and business uncertainty, the pound slipped towards a fresh 8-month low.
This week’s wages and retail sales data did little to alter the growing market belief that a U.K. rate hike is likely only in the second half of 2018 and with a thin data calendar for the next couple of weeks, the market will be range bound.
Against the dollar, sterling was a shade higher against the U.S. dollar largely due to broad greenback-related weakness across the board.
Noise around Britain’s strategy for leaving Europe and the talks on the issue with Brussels have provided little positive for investors worried that the process is becoming increasingly chaotic and may do longer-term damage to the economy.