In the first half of the day, data on housing prices in the eurozone was published, which had no impact on the markets. According to the report of the statistics agency Eurostat, from October to December 2017, housing prices rose by 4.2% compared to the same period in 2016. As a result, good economic growth last year instilled confidence in households, forcing them to go boost their spending. Another important factor is the talk around the rise in the cost of borrowing, which may occur in the middle of next year, which will make access to loans for real estate more expensive.
As noted in the report, the largest growth in real estate was observed in Spain. Housing prices for the year in the country rose by 7.2%.
In the afternoon, a weak report was released on consumer prices in the US, which declined in March this year. It happened because of the drop in prices for gasoline.
According to the US Department of Labor, the consumer price index fell 0.1% compared to February, while the core index, which does not take into account energy prices, rose by 0.2%. As noted above, the main pressure on the index was created by a decrease in gasoline prices. Economists predicted that consumer prices in March will remain unchanged, and the base index will grow by 0.2%.
The British pound was down against the US dollar from its daily highs after it became known that the volume of manufacturing in the UK manufacturing industry fell in February this year, indicating a possible slowdown in the economy earlier this year.
According to a report by the National Bureau of Statistics, manufacturing in manufacturing in February 2018 decreased by 0.2% compared to January. A particularly large reduction occurred in engineering and electrical engineering.
Also, data were published according to which the negative balance of the UK trade balance in February fell to 10.2 billion pounds from 12.2 billion pounds. This happened due to a large reduction in imports. The trade deficit of the UK with countries outside the EU in February amounted to 2.2 billion pounds.
It is worth recalling that the major drag on the UK economy is the uncertainty about the country's further relations with the EU. Despite this, it is expected that in May this year the Bank of England will raise the key interest rate to 0.75%, as many economists, as well as bank executives are confident in maintaining the pace of economic growth at least at the level of last year.
