The meeting of the Bank of England was held without noise and dust, and sterling is preparing to release important statistics on inflation and retail sales, observing the development of the situation in the field of trade wars. According to the regulator, the consequences of the conflict between the US and China for the world economy may be slightly worse than initially expected. The concern of MPC is evoked by developments in emerging markets. The committee unanimously voted to maintain the repo rate at 0.75% and said that by the end of 2019 excess demand could lead to further tightening of monetary policy.
In general, the meeting was held in line with expectations, and the increase in estimates of GDP growth of the UK from 0.4% to 0.5% q/q in the third quarter provided little support to the sterling. Markets were expecting a more positive result amid the acceleration of the average wage to 2.9% y/y and the economy to 0.6% in May-July, however, the central bank cooled the offensive ardor of the bulls with the statement that these figures came in line with the forecast. According to the regulator, inflation is moving in the direction of 2%, which suggests the possibility of using the "let's sit and see" approach.
The pound continues to show increased sensitivity to politics. Rumors that Brussels and London failed to achieve progress on the Irish border, has pushed prices higher, but a statement by the Labour Party that the opposition would vote against Theresa May's plan returned the bulls from heaven to earth. The correlation between the headlines about Brexit and the volatility of the sterling reached a record 70%, which is conclusive evidence that the growth of the GBP/USD is hampered primarily by politics.
Dynamics of correlation between Brexit headlines and sterling volatility
Unlike the volatility of the pound, the volatility of the euro fell to a 5-month low. The ECB's plans to phase out QE and hold rates until at least September 2019 make the monetary policy transparent. Given the fact that the timing of the continuation of the normalization of BoE may shift from the end of 2019 to a later or, conversely, an earlier period, investors have a great opportunity to win back macroeconomic statistics on Britain in the EUR/GBP pair. According to Nomura, the release of retail sales data for August (September 20) looks particularly attractive. A pleasant surprise will contribute to the decline of the euro in the direction of £0.85. It should be noted that the consensus forecast of Bloomberg experts for the end of 2018 is £0.89.
As for the GBP/USD pair, much will depend on the development of the situation in the field of trade wars. Donald Trump threatens to impose additional tariffs of $200 billion on Chinese imports and invites to negotiations. The Chinese media claim that Beijing will not conduct a dialogue at gunpoint. The escalation of the conflict will increase the demand for reliable assets, including the US dollar.
Technically, if the bulls on the GBP/USD pair manage to hold the quotes above the support at 1.3035 and take the resistance by 1.313, the risks of implementing the target by 88.6% on the Shark pattern will increase.
GBP/USD, daily chart
