Sterling slips a littie

Sterling has drifted a little lower ahead of tomorrow’s Bank of England interest rate decision – it looks like it’s close to 50/50 regarding the chances of a rate cut – and is trading at just over 84.5p against the euro this morning and at $1.30 against the dollar. The latter continues to perform solidly and has edged up to around $1.10 against the single currency

Equity markets recovered some ground yesterday, with both European and US stocks ending the day in positive territory, and in line with that core bond yields moved up a touch, with German and US 10-yields closing about 5bps higher at -0.34% and 1.66% respectively

Consumer confidence in the US rose quite strongly in January according to the Conference Board’s latest survey – and is now not far off its cycle high – driven by respondents very positive assessment of current and prospective labour market conditions

The annual rate of house price inflation in the UK picked up for a fourth month in a row in January albeit still remaining quite moderate at 1.9%

The Fed concludes its two-day monetary policy meeting today and is almost certain to leave  interest rates unchanged while again saying that they are an ‘appropriate’ level to sustain the economic expansion

Data due today includes Euro Area money supply and loan growth and the trade balance in the US