Quiet day ahead perhaps as US enjoy President's Day

Good morning

Can’t be too long this morning, I have a hospital appointment for my shoulder, can you believe its been almost one year since i had the left shoulder replaced! Not sure if this is just a check up on that, or if plans are in place for work to begin on the right shoulder.

It is a light calendar today, the US are on holiday for Presidents Day so no data from there and only consumer confidence out of EU. The week does get busier though with a host of S&P PMIs, RBNZ rate announcement, CAD, German, Japan inflation, US GDP and FOMC minutes all on offer along with several other reasonably significant releases.

We are also watching for any news regarding any agreement between UK and EU over the NI protocol. This could impact GBP depending on which way it goes, at the moment Sunak seems eager to come to an agreement which could lead to a softer approach than previous attempts.

EUR and GBP have recovered some ground against USD after a dip last week that took them to 1.0615 and 1.1915 respectively, now 1.0700 and 1.2050 which leaves GBPEUR at a more healthy-looking 1.1260, having tested 1.1200 late last week. Dare I say that these levels feel reasonably comfortable, and pretty close to where we started 2023. Certainly don’t expect much from today but with Fed confirming they are fairly data dependent, the economic releases later in the week could provide more excitement.

That’s all for now before I head off, only left to say I finished Game of Thrones Friday, mildly disappointed that I thought I had two episodes left but turned out the last was an hour and a half or so of ‘how it was made’, so actually had just the one to watch. Overall, I do have to say I was thoroughly entertained through all eight seasons. Better than I’d expected, that’s for sure. Its been going on a few months now, not yet decided what to fill the void with but there is no shortage of things to try.

Finally, I’ve just been reading about the Cambodian jewellery, some of which dates back to the 7th century, and many that are solid gold, that appeared in London and has now been sent back to Cambodia. It would seem that a known smuggler of antiques, Douglas Latchford, had them in possession when he died and his family have returned them. No mention of value but 77 ancient pieces of gold and gems must be worth a fair amount! The handover was apparently made in a car park where a car sat with four boxes of treasure in it.

Watch out for the film that must surely follow in a year or two…..

- 15.00 EU consumer confidence

- 22.00 AUS S&P services, manufacturing PMIs

- 00.30 RBA minutes