Economic data

For those trading the pound, Mark Smyth, currency analyst at XPRESSTRADE, suggests keeping a close eye on retail sales data and housing market numbers.

Looking at the latest UK economic news, February retail sales posted a rebound after lackluster January figures. In February, retail sales jumped 2.1 percent on a year-overyear basis. On the employment front, recent data suggests modest improvement. Total employment fell by less than 10,000 over the last three-month period, as seen in the January data. That compares favorably to the more than 50,000 drop in the previous month.

Callow forecast a 2.1-percent UK gross domestic product (GDP) number for 2006. He notes the housing market is a factor, which has shown recent strength.

“Prices boomed in 2001-2003, then cooled off sharply in late 2004-2005,” he says. “But in recent months [prices] have been showing recovery.”

“They’ve had relatively poor consumer demand in the last six to nine months,” Coleman adds. “Their economy isn’t doing badly, but it is not trending up like most of the global economies.”