A quiet day yesterday saw Sterling shine

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The currency markets were very quiet yesterday with ranges of a US cent of less across the board. Sterling got a helping hand from the April retail sales figure, up to 1.1% from 0.3% in March, which was well above the markets forecast of 0.8%. When publishing the figure, the Office of National Statistics note that April "was an unusual month" with temperatures at their highest on record, the Royal wedding and an extra holiday.

Sterling reacted well to the data initially but the rally ran out of steam after a couple of hours, probably because the high retail sales figure won't be repeated in May. It was still enough for Sterling, and the South African Rand, to be the leading performers yesterday... just.

UK Nationwide consumer confidence fell marginally to 43 in April from 45 in March although this had little impact on Sterling. The US Dollar didn't have a great day following some disappointing US economic statistics.

The weekly initial jobless claims were okay, falling by 29,000 last week. The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's manufacturing index fell from 18.5 to 3.9, the leading economic indicator went from 0.7% to a negative -0.3% and existing home sales were down by -0.8% in April.

Today's data is hardly inspirational either. The Eurozone current account and consumer confidence figure, which is expected to show another slight decline.

In Canada, inflation and retail sales figures are likely to garner more interest. They are both important pointers for Canadian interest rates and will be watched closely. Since the financial crisis, the Governor of the Bank of Canada has been careful to provide investors with guidance on the outlook for interest rates. He now feels less inclination to do so and hopes that by looking at the same data the bank reviews, "markets will generally converge in expectations that are in line with where rates are headed".

With nothing from the UK today, it is likely we will have another quiet day. Famous last words perhaps? Have a good weekend.