* UK Retail Sales much weaker than forecast down 0.6% m/m in May and down 1.6% y/y.
* UK CBI June orders rises to -51 from -56 in May. Lower than the -45 forecast.
* Bank of England – Net mortgage lending rose to 1.7bln Gbp in May. Lending to businesses falls by 5.4 bln Gbp in April, weakest reading since June 2000.
* UK Public Sector Borrowing rises to record 19.861 bln Gbp in May.
* Former MPC member David Blanchflower laughs off talk of green shoots says we have yet to realise how painful the next few years are going to be.
* Ambrose Evans-Pritchard highlights the growing spectre of Chinese protectionism
*Swiss National Bank’s Roth says that risks to the Swiss economy are clearly to the downside and are major. Says state of Swiss and International financial system remains vulnerable. Have achieved aim with FX intervention, Franc appreciation against the Euro has eased.
It was a session of two halves again this morning. First off we had a Dollar sell-off as S&P futures rallied with Eur/Usd hitting 1.3985/90 again, Usd/Jpy touching 96.00 and Cable looking especially strong, buoyed by Asian central bank buying, hitting a high at 1.6470.
Unable to break tough resistances to the upside the Dollar quickly changed course with Cable especially getting hit hard. Cable was at 1.6370 as an awful Retail Sales and PSNB report hit the screens and ensuing sell-off quickly turned into a rout, with a Middle Eastern name prominent. Stops were tripped below yesterday’s low at 1.6210, but the follow through was limited to 1.6189 before bargain hunters stepped in.
Eur/Usd has mostly sat on the sideline watching on in amusement at the rollercoaster of a session for Cable. Range 1.3906-1.3991 with dealers disappointed that it couldn’t manage a more sustainable break above 1.3985.
Stock futures are a touch lower, with the big data events of US Jobless Claims and Philly Fed survey keenly awaited this afternoon.
