On Thursday we heard from Christine Lagarde in Davos, given us an small indication that ECB could start to cut rates in the Summer but she was stern on the topic of overconfidence in the market could halt their inflation policy and its vital to continue being data-driven.

Stronger than expected U.S Retail Sales in December has helped to keep the US Dollar elevated near a 5-week high against the major currency pairs, with Interest Rate cut expectations dropping with The Federal Reserve seemingly in no exact rush to lower their rates.

Pound Sterling has risen across the board this morning after UK inflation figures for December increased more than initial expectations. This has now led to markets lowering their expectations for immediate Bank of England interest rate cuts, which of course bodes well for The Pound if as suggested The Federal Reserve and European Central Bank strike first with their respective cuts. Official figures show that inflation rose to 4%, a surprise increase of 0.2% from initial forecasts.

German GDP figures for 2023 was released yesterday and showed a decrease of economic output for 2023 by -0.3%. Showing that the German economy is struggling with higher interest rates. With that in mind, this morning we had German inflation for December recording a level of 3.7% from 3.2% in November.

In today’s dynamic economic landscape, construction businesses often navigate a complex financial environment. Traditional financing routes, such as bank loans and credit lines, are increasingly complemented by various non-traditional finance options. These alternatives aren’t only reshaping how construction companies manage cash flow and fund projects but offer new avenues for growth and stability.  

Sterling exchange rates closed on Friday net positive for the week after GDP numbers showed that the UK economy rebounded in November- however, the part that perhaps wasn’t reported as much is that over the quarter the economy contracted by 0.2%.

US inflation came in stronger than what was forecasted for December, seeing the inflation rate increase to 3.4% versus 3.1% in November. Even if core inflation dropped from 4% to 3.9%, it was expected to reach a level of 3.8%. This has created more market uncertainty of when the Federal Reserve will start to cut rate and that its initial rate hike might be postponed from March to later in the year.

Affluent expats keen to unlock the opportunities of Portugal’s Golden Visa now have another investment alternative.
Thousands of affluent families and wealthy investors have already taken advantage of the country’s alluring Golden Visa program – a scheme that offers fast-track residency and access to the whole EU Schengen region in exchange for investment in one of Portugal’s qualifying investment funds.