| Time | Country | Event | Period | Previous value | Forecast | Actual |
|---|
| 07:55 | Germany | Services PMI | April | 50.1 | 53.3 | 53.2 |
| 08:00 | Eurozone | Services PMI | April | 51.5 | 52.9 | 53.3 |
| 09:00 | Eurozone | Producer Price Index, MoM | March | -1.1% | -0.4% | -0.4% |
GBP strengthened against most of its major rivals in the European session on Monday as investors prepared for the announcement of the Bank of England's policy update later this week, hoping for clearer guidance on the Bank Rate.
It should be noted that trading volumes are muted due to national holidays in the UK and Japan.
Expectations are for the British central bank to leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.25% when it releases its policy update on Thursday.
Some market participants, however, believe the BoE could provide hints at whether to expect the first rate cut in June or August.
Overall, markets are fully pricing a rate reduction by the BoE’s meeting in August and forecast nearly 50 basis points of easing for 2024, or around two quarter-point cuts. This contrasts with the start of the year when investors had predicted the cutting of the Bank Rate to begin earlier and the rate to be lowered at least five times by 25-basis-point each this year.