The motor vehicle and parts subsector contributed the most to the gain. Excluding this subsector, wholesale sales rose 0.2%.

Sales were up in four of seven subsectors in March. In volume terms, wholesale sales rose 0.8%.

In the first quarter of 2018, wholesale sales rose 0.5% in current dollars and 0.4% in constant dollars compared with the fourth quarter of 2017. For both current and constant dollars, this marked the eighth consecutive quarterly increase

Manufacturing output was broadly unchanged in the three months to May and firms reported a further softening in order books, according to the CBI's latest monthly Industrial Trends Survey.

The survey of 411 manufacturers found that the volume of total order books fell to the lowest since November 2016, though orders remained above their long-run average. Export order books held up better, having been broadly unchanged in recent months at a level that is also well above the historical average.

Public sector net borrowing (excluding public sector banks) in the latest full financial year (April 2017 and March 2018) was £40.5 billion; that is, £5.7 billion less than in the previous financial year (April 2016 to March 2017) and £4.7 billion less than official (OBR) expectations; this is the lowest net borrowing since the financial year ending March 2007.

Public sector net borrowing (excluding public sector banks) decreased by £1.6 billion to £7.8 billion in April 2018, compared with April 2017; this is the lowest April net borrowing since 2008.

Public sector net debt (excluding public sector banks) was £1,777.3 billion at the end of April 2018, equivalent to 85.1% of gross domestic product (GDP), an increase of £56.8 billion (or 0.3 percentage points as a ratio of gross domestic product (GDP)) on April 2017.

• Says I don't think I have a big difference with the central view of the MPC

• Various problems of central banks issuing digital currencies were debated at G20, bis including impact on financial intermediation, cybersecurity

• Japan's real interest rate is in negative territory, natural rate of interest likely around zero pct

EUR/USD

Resistance levels (open interest**, contracts)

$1.1936 (2418)

$1.1877 (1490)

$1.1839 (383)

Price at time of writing this review: $1.1766

Support levels (open interest**, contracts):

$1.1718 (2686)

$1.1689 (3079)

$1.1656 (2806)

Comments:

- Overall open interest on the CALL options and PUT options with the expiration date June, 8 is 153691 contracts (according to data from May, 21) with the maximum number of contracts with strike price $1,1400 (7213);

GBP/USD

Resistance levels (open interest**, contracts)

$1.3630 (1336)

$1.3592 (934)

$1.3529 (1051)

Price at time of writing this review: $1.3417

Support levels (open interest**, contracts):

$1.3372 (2382)

$1.3351 (1193)

$1.3326 (2419)

Comments:

- Overall open interest on the CALL options with the expiration date June, 8 is 38842 contracts, with the maximum number of contracts with strike price $1,3600 (2831);

- Overall open interest on the PUT options with the expiration date June, 8 is 40780 contracts, with the maximum number of contracts with strike price $1,3400 (2419);

- The ratio of PUT/CALL was 1.05 versus 1.06 from the previous trading day according to data from May, 21.

* - The Chicago Mercantile Exchange bulletin (CME) is used for the calculation.

** - Open interest takes into account the total number of option contracts that are open at the moment.