Sterling falls as BOE Governor signals “much nearer” end to rate hikes

APAC equity markets

Equity markets fell overnight in APAC, following the lead of US indices. The USD continues to strengthen, keeping the Yen at a 10-month low and sterling and the EUR at a three-month low.

The GBP lost ground against other major currencies yesterday afternoon after the Bank of England governor signalled a "much nearer" end to the bank's interest rate hike run. The Bank of England (BoE) has raised rates at each of its last 14 meetings. It is expected to raise borrowing costs again later this month, taking the bank rate to 5.5%.

The Australian foreign trade shrank

Australian foreign trade shrank in July to A$8.04 billion. July goods and services exports printed a drop of 2% on a monthly basis, the same as June, while imports rose 3%. In China, the trade surplus also fell in August as imports and exports fell. The UK Halifax house price index fell by 1.9% in August compared to July, much more than the anticipated 0.3% fall. In Germany, industrial production fell more than expected in July, by 0.8%, after a 1.4% fall in June.

The Eurozone Q2 gross domestic product

Later on Thursday, the final reading of Eurozone Q2 gross domestic product (GDP) Expectations are for a 0.3% rise quarter on quarter (QoQ) and 0.6% year-on-year (YoY). Over in the US, initial jobless claims: economists anticipate 234,000 new claimants last week.

US crude

Crude continues to hold at 6-month highs. The American Petroleum Institute's data yesterday reported a large 5.5 million-barrel fall in US Crude inventories, on top of last week's 11.4 million-barrel draw. Analysts were expecting a smaller drop this time around of 1.4 million barrels for the week.

This adds up to a net draw in crude inventories since April of almost 50 million barrels. Gasoline stocks also fell by more than 5 million barrels.