GBP/USD briefly climbed to the 1.2700 mark on Monday before retreating, paring some of the day’s gains but moving higher from the open.
There is not much economic data in the UK this week, while Friday’s US non-farm payrolls (NFP) data will make investors wait and see again when the Federal Reserve (Fed) will start to cut interest rates.
UK BRC year-on-year retail sales for the year to February are expected to show an annualized rate of 1.6% on Tuesday, compared with 1.4% in the previous month. In the United States, the ISM Services Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for February, released on Tuesday, is expected to fall to 53.0 from 53.4 the previous month.
U.S. labor force data will be important this week, with ADP employment changes on Wednesday and the non-farm payrolls report on Friday. ADP employment is expected to surge to 150,000 in February from 107,000 last month, while Friday’s non-farm payrolls are now expected to fall back to 200,000 from 353,000 last month.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will also appear this week to testify to the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on the Fed’s semiannual monetary policy report. A lot of noise and headlines are expected during the two days of central bank presentations starting on Wednesday and ending on Thursday.