Sterling Boosted by Hawkish BOE

Sales (exp 1.0%, prev 1.9%)
6/21 08:30 Canada April Core Retail Sales (exp 0.5%, prev 1.1%)
6/21 08:30 US Weekly Initial Jobless Claims (exp 310k, prev 311k)
6/21 08:30 US May Leading Indicators (exp 0.2%, prev –0.5%)
6/21 12:00 US June Philadelphia Fed Index (exp 6, prev 4.2)

The sterling gained after the June meeting minutes from the Bank of England boosted market expectations for an earlier rate hike.

The minutes showed four out of nine policymakers, including BOE governor Mervyn King, voted for a 25 basis point rate increase on June meeting. It is already almost certain that the bank will raise interest rates to 6% by the year. The surprise this MPC vote brought us is that the bank may move earlier than expected. The currency rose sharply from 1.9870 to 1.9920 versus the dollar, and hit a fresh 15-year high versus the yen.