US/China trade issues were firmly in the headlines last week, dominating the majority of market movement.

A miss on Wednesday’s US PPI numbers, coupled with the Wall Street Journal reporting the US is said to be initiating a new round of trade talks with China weighed on the greenback.

While Thursday’s US CPI misses forced the dollar to extend losses, Friday’s action witnessed a change in tune as US President Trump is reportedly said to want USD 200bln in China tariffs, despite on-going trade talks.

The USD, according to the US dollar index, concluded the week down 0.41%.

The British pound ended the week on firm footing, up 1.18%. Monday saw a slew of UK macroeconomic data hit the wire (GDP and production figures), though failed to generate much of a direction.

Shortly after, however, headlines reporting the EU is preparing to give Brexit negotiator Barnier instructions to close a deal with the UK within 6-8 weeks firmly boosted demand for the pound against its US rival, consequently pulling the GBP/USD above the key figure 1.30.

BoE’s Governor Carney also took to the stage on Friday, stating the uncertainty around Brexit has an increased dampening effect on pay growth, and the BoE is prepared for whatever path the economy takes.

Taking the above on board, let’s transition over to the charts and see where this leaves us going into the new week…

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