BetOnMarkets.com Daily Market Report
Traders closed the door on a record month on Friday and already August has
started off well. July marked the fifth consecutive month of gains for the
benchmark US S&P 500 index, its best five month stretch since October 1938.
This morning the excitement continues with trading statements from the
UK's Barclays and HSBC banks. There was an early wobble when Barclays increase
profits by 10% but missed more optimistic estimates. The FTSE and pound took an
early dip, but have both since recovered well as traders give the UK banks the
benefit of the doubt.
On top of this, we have UK manufacturing PMI at
08.30 GMT today following by US ISM manufacturing at 14.00.
Pair in play
The performance of the UK banking sector will undoubtedly have a
knock on effect on the pound today, as we have already seen in early trading.
Strong UK banks equal a strong pound it seems. The pound is strong against most
currencies, but most notably the euro, dollar and yen. The GBP/JPY is slowly
making its way back up to 160.00 and could make it there within a day or two.
GBP/JPY is today's pair in play with action likely to take place in and around
the 160.00 area.
