Pounds Forecast boosted – will we see 1.3000 against the Euro

Hi All

Analysts have increased their year-end forecasts for the pound against the dollar to the highest in more than two years amid speculation the Bank of England will increase interest rates before the Federal Reserve.

The Pound has gained a whopping 13 percent in the past year against the US Dollar, the best performer among 10 developed-nation currencies tracked by Bloomberg.

Today’s economic calendar is relatively light with the exception of euro area January industrial production, scheduled for release this morning. December figures did come in weaker than expected and markets anticipate a decent rebound for January. This is likely to prompt further euro gains.

While this mornings data is expected to point to continued modest recovery in the euro area, it is unlikely to make an impact on ECB monetary policy expectations given ECB’s President Draghi’s comments last week that monetary policy in the euro area will remain unchanged over the near term.