Dear Reader,

Today's overview of economic news and market action:

• Most of the main FX pairs confined to relatively tight ranges last week
• There was some brief dollar weakness post-CPI release
• Overall, EUR/USD traded in a $1.093-1.106 range
• Meanwhile, EUR/GBP mostly operated in the lower half of 86-87p
• Busier macro diary this week
• Some of the highlights include UK CPI, US retail sales and Fed minutes

Supply and Demand

 Based on underlying demographics, the Irish economy needs at least 30,000 new residential units to be built each year.

ECB raises rates again, leaves options open about further hike

As had been well signalled, the July meeting of the ECB’s Governing Council saw the central bank raise rates by a further 25bps, pushing the key deposit rate up to 3.75%

King of the Hill

The US economy continues to strongly outperform Europe, as it confounds fears that it could enter recession this year. US data have come in well ahead of expectations to date in 2023. This has seen US GDP rise by 0.5% and 0.6% in the first two quarters of the year. By contrast, Eurozone data have disappointed.