Euro in fighting ground against the Dollar in mixed week for the currency market

30 August, 2013

Graham Harborne

A real mixed week for all currencies this week with some big movements after what appeared on paper to be a fairly quiet week with regards to economic data releases. We have seen the euro lose ground against the dollar the most in one day after threatening recent highs and we have seen the pound continue to slide against the euro only to suddenly bounce back and erase all losses.

So why the volatility on a fairly quiet week for data?

The UK data this week has been very thin but has come in line with expectation if not slightly more bullish. This really hasn’t done much in the way of boosting the pound but has perhaps prevented it falling. Across the channel however we have seen a different picture. The eurozone has seen far more releases this week and on top of that they have been extremely mixed. Possibly the key factor to the euro losing ground is that their biggest economy Germany had a set of poor data releases which has therefore weighed heavily on the euro.

The unrest in Syria has also caused investors to shy away from the riskier euro (hence the huge drop against the dollar) and stick with the so called safe haven of the dollar. Should the US and UK decide to send troops we are almost certain to see this pattern continue.

And finally there was the Carney affect. In a speech before a select committee the BoE governor confirmed his stance on low interest rates until unemployment falls and the dovish tone that he set saw the pound pick up momentum as investors seem to have confidence in Carney’s plans, this of course as always could back fire !

So as you can see a number of factors moving the markets this week and certainly in the case of Syria not all of them are predictable. Today does see a raft of data out from all 3 of the major economies and with it being month end we could well see some big movements as investors off load positions. Please stay in touch with your account manager here at Currency Index and make sure you don’t lose out on sending money abroad.