Sterling falls as focus turns to domestic events

The British pound declined against both the U.S. dollar and euro on Monday after weekly data showed a rise in bearish sterling bets, as investors turn their focus to domestic drivers, including Wednesday’s Spring Statement.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s weekly sentiment report released on Friday showed net bearish bets on the pound rose by $1.3 billion to $2.6 billion, the biggest bearish bet on sterling since the early weeks of 2022, according to a Scotiabank analysis.

“A dovish hike by the BoE on Thursday highlighted the limited tailwinds for sterling that will likely sustain a bearish GBP position over the coming months,” Scotiabank said.

Sterling fell 0.2% against the dollar to $1.3147 at 0909 GMT.

Against the euro, sterling was down 0.3% at 84.12 pence.

Traders this week will have several domestic drivers to digest, including UK inflation data, a speech from Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey as well as finance minister Rishi Sunak’s Spring Statement on Wednesday.

Sunak said on Sunday he would help where he could with the current cost-of-living squeeze but warned that the Ukraine crisis and sanctions on Russia would add to the economy’s problems.

Meanwhile, data from property website Rightmove showed asking prices for British houses recorded their sharpest monthly jump for this time of year since March 2004