Pound in a quandry

17 January, 2014

Robin Haynes

The Pound is hovering around doing not very much at the moment, particularly against the Euro. Yesterday’s Eurozone and US inflation figures were as expected.

This morning at 9.30 we have UK retail sales for the Christmas period, and there is not a lot else due out to move rates. The Pound-Euro rate hasn’t moved much more than a cent over the last 30 days, while the US Dollar has been strengthening, making sending money in USD slightly more expensive as the month wears on, although still at very good levels compared to most of 2013.

Next week also starts off quietly for UK data, until Wednesday when we see the Bank of England minutes and UK unemployment along with public sector borrowing. So today and early next week could be a good window to consider booking your currency, given the potential volatility ahead.

The ONS recently warned that the UK’s economy is not perhaps recovering as well as had been thought, warning against early interest rate rises, and that could hamper the Pound over the coming weeks if it is borne out in economic figures.