It has been an up and down week......>

SHORT-STERLING: It has been an up and down week for short sterling with the

strip ending the week higher and flatter. Whites are within 0.5 ticks of last

week's close, Reds 1-2 ticks higher, Greens 2-3.5 ticks higher and Blues 3-4

ticks higher.

- Brexit news has continued to dominate markets, although headlines are not

moving markets to the extent which they have been previously. The Cooper

amendment, if it is voted on, will receive the backing of the Labour party and

is now looking likely to pass with a small number of Tory supporters. This would

effectively mean that the default Brexit position would be for an extension to

stay in the EU rather than leave with no deal at the end of March. A vote is

expected next week, with the outcome potentially significant for markets.

- UK data was surprisingly strong with employment and wage growth coming in much

better than expected. The data highlights for the upcoming week will be consumer

confidence on Thursday and the manufacturing PMI on Friday.