Daily summary

Reserve Bank of New Zealand maintained its official cash rate at a record low of 0.25%. The RBNZ Monetary Policy Committee said it would keep the OCR at 0.25% for at least a year and planning to introduce a Funding for Lending Programme (FLP) before the end of this calendar year.

The British pound slipped to near 2-months low on Tuesday after Bank of England Governor Bailey warned that the recent rise in COVID-19 cases "reinforced the downside risks" facing the UK economy. On the other hand, England's chief medical officer Whitty has warned the rate of COVID-19 infections in the UK is "heading in the wrong direction" and the country is in a "critical point" in the pandemic.

US markets are set to open lower today. Dow and the S&P 500 futures are down more than 1% at the time of writing, while Nasdaq has declined by 1.5%.

UK retail sales rose by 0.8% in August, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and Sales from online channels moved 2.5% lower against July’s data but were still 46.8% higher than pre-pandemic levels. Meanwhile, U.S. retail sales rose only 0.6% in August following July’s revised rise of 0.9%, according to the latest data from the U.S. Commerce Department, released Wednesday; the data missed expectations as economists were forecasting an increase of 1.1%.

The British pound trading slightly lower on Thursday ahead of Bank of England monetary policy decision later today. The market participants expect the BoE to leave its interest rate unchanged as the bank is in a ‘wait-and-see’ mode. It is also projected to maintain the bond-buying scheme at £745 billion.