CENTRAL BANK MEETING MINUTES REVEAL GROWING CONCERN FROM THE FED AND ECB

FED AND ECB RAISE CONCERNS

Comments inside the minutes of the U.S Federal Reserve's July meeting, showed central bank policymakers are growing increasingly worried about weak U.S inflation, with some members calling for a halt in interest rate hikes, until it was clear that low inflation was transitory.

The European Central Bank meeting minutes also showed the ECB remained concerned about low inflation, with some policymakers also raising concerns about the rising value of the single currency. The euro fell sharply after the meeting minutes release, with the EURUSD pair moving to a new monthly price low, hitting 1.1661.

UK UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FALLS AGAIN

Official statistics showed that the UK unemployment rate fell to 4.4 percent, marking its lowest level since records began in the 1970s. The United Kingdom employment rate also hit a new record high, moving to 75.1 percent.

However, real UK wage growth declined, with wages growing just 2.1 percent, compared to UK inflation rising 2.6 percent. The British pound looked past the positive jobs data, and fell for third consecutive week against the U.S dollar, reaching levels not seen since mid-July.

U.S RETAIL SALES JUMP

United States retail sales increased the most in seven months in July, as consumers purchased more motor vehicles, and raised domestic discretionary spending, pointing to a robust third fiscal quarter for the U.S economy.

The headline number showed retail sales jumped 0.6 percent last month, which marked the largest gain since December 2016. The retail sales figures for June were also revised higher, to show a 0.3 percent gain instead of the previously reported 0.2 percent decline.

AUSTRALIAN DOLLAR INCREASINGLY VOLATILE

Data out this week showed the number of Australian's in employment rose to its highest level since April 2013. The Australian unemployment rate also fell to 5.6 percent in July, with new jobs created in July beating the 20,000 forecasted, coming in at 28,000.

The Australian dollar remained volatile this week, with the pair rising from the $0.7800 level, to $0.7968 against the U.S dollar. However, the AUDUSD pair then fall back below the key $0.7900 level, on continued technical selling.