Investor sentiment has been shaken further by the escalating conflict across the Middle East, which has now entered its seventh day. Continued fears around global energy supplies have continued with the struggles of supplies passing through The Strait of Hormuz which contributes to one-fifth of global Oil supply.
Oil prices have continued to climb throughout this week as traders are now pricing in further supply disruption, with Oil prices having already jumped more than 15% this week alone. A backdrop of higher oil prices has seen rising inflation risks, particularly for The U.S. Before the developments in The Middle East, The Federal Reserve were expected to cut their interest rates in the coming meetings but this now looks increasingly unlikely which will support further support to The Dollar.
This afternoon all attention will be solely on February’s Non-Farm Payroll data which again could provide some indication on the strength of the jobs market. Expectations currently point towards over 60,000 less jobs having been created compared to January, in usual times this would go some way to influencing The Federal Reserve but it may become less important as we see oil prices and inflation rise further.
GBP/EUR 1.1501 GBP/USD 1.3336 GBP/AED 4.9005
GBP/AUD 1.9000 GBP/CHF 1.0412 GBP/CAD 1.8223
GBP/NZD 2.2655 EUR/USD 1.1575 GBP/ZAR 22.2008