Themes

· General mood is “risk off”

· BoE hikes UK. Interest rates 25bps as expected

· U.S. Initial Claims largely as expected at 214k

What’s Moving

Sterling had a bit of a bouncy session overnight, initially firming on news that the BoE had raised rates 25bps (as expected), before falling back to opening levels after the language of the statement was read to be slightly less hawkish than previously.

U.S. Initial Claims were ever so slightly better than expected, but had little impact on trade, while players did note some appetite for the AUD and NZD amid a lack of other trading incentives.

Thoughts

For today, expect the usual end to the week in Asia, with little in the way of major movements expected.

The BoJ will announce on rates in Japan this morning, with no change expected. Japan will also release its National Core CPI (E: +0.6%) data this morning.