Market Rumours

EUR/USD is little changed early Thu in NY ahead of the US weekly jobless claims in NY, due out at 8:30 a.m. ET. EUR/USD was at 1.4733 from 1.4725 late Wed. USD/JPY was at 88.31 from 87.80, while GBP/USD was at 130.08 from 129.30.

The U.K.'s private household net wealth totaled GBP9 trillion in 2006-2008, with the wealthiest fifth of households holding 62% of total wealth, the country's Office for National Statistics said Thursday in a new report. The survey of 30,595 households between mid-2006 to mid-2008 aims to plug gaps in data about the economic well-being of the population by gathering information on variables such as levels of assets, savings and debt, saving for retirement, and how wealth is distributed. The report indicated a degree of inequality in the distribution of wealth. The wealthiest half of households in the U.K. had 91% of total wealth, while the least wealthy half had just 9% of the total including private pension health. The wealthiest 10% of households were 2.4 times wealthier than the second wealthiest 10% and 4.8 times wealthier than the bottom half. The least wealthy 10% of households had negative values for both net financial wealth and net property wealth, although they did have some physical wealth, the ONS said. The median household wealth was GBP204,500 in 2006-2008. The wealthiest part of the U.K. was the southeast of England with a median of GBP287,900, while Scotland had the lowest median of GBP150,600. Academic qualifications make a difference. Households headed by someone with a university degree or further qualifications had the highest median total wealth of GBP400,200, while the "no qualification" group was the least wealthy with GBP105,100. Households headed by a self-employed person had the top median of GBP383,200, followed by retired households with a median of GBP268,600. Employee-headed households had median wealth of GBP217,500. The survey found that more than two thirds of U.K. households owned their home in 2006-2008 - 32% did not own a home, 30% owned their home outright, and 38% were buying with a mortgage. London had the highest net property wealth of GBP220,000, but also the lowest proportion of households owning their property of 57%.


Sterling is unchanged after the BOE left interest rates unchanged at 0.5% and QE at GBP200B. However, gilts are back under pressure with the March contract down another 20 ticks for a total loss of 1.15 on the day, now trading at 116.07. GBP/USD trades at 1.6315, EUR/GBP at 0.9035.

The EUR/JPY bears are back in control after Wednesday's close under the previous low of 130.99 says MIG Bank's chief market strategist Howard Friend. While last week's high of 134.57 caps the rate, he looks for slippage toward the recent lows of 126.87, 124.38 and 120.00. EUR/JPY now at 130.27.