WHEN IS THE UK INFLATION DATA AND HOW COULD IT AFFECT GBP/USD?

The UK CPIs Overview

The cost of living in the UK as represented by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for March month is due early on Wednesday at 06:00 GMT.

Given the recently released upbeat UK employment data, coupled with the firmer economic activity numbers and the doubts about the Bank of England’s (BOE) next moves, today’s British inflation numbers will be the key for the GBP/USD traders. Also increasing the importance of the UK CPI is the looming banking crisis and the policymakers’ push for measures that could help the market ward off the risks.

That said, the headline CPI inflation is expected to decline further from the 41-year high marked in late 2022 while easing to 9.8% YoY in March, versus 10.4% prior. Further, the Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy items, is likely to drop to 6.0% from 6.2% in previous readings. Talking about the monthly figures, the CPI could ease to 0.5% versus 1.1% prior.

Also important to watch is the Retail Price Index (RPI) figures for March, expected to mark a reduction to 0.6% MoM and 13.3% YoY versus 1.2% and 13.8% priors in that order.