Euro continues to push higher

The Euro has continued to gain in value on currency markets, despite EU bailout talks in Athens on Friday being delayed due to ‘logistical reasons’.

In the aftermath of the Greek debt crisis, and after the Greek parliament passed further key legislation on Thursday, the single currency has been getting more expensive. And with a very quiet week ahead in terms of economic data releases, this is a trend that could continue through to the end of July. The Pound has now lost nearly 3% of its value compared to the 8-year highs seen at the height of the Greek troubles; and in early trading this morning, GBP-EUR has already dropped nearly a cent.

This week we have very little to change the direction of exchange rate movements, as July comes to a close:

Monday
US Durable Goods (1330)

Tuesday
UK GDP revision (0930)

Wednesday
UK mortgage approvals (0930)
US interest rates (1900)

Thursday
Eurozone economic bulletin (0900)
US GDP (1330)

Friday
Eurozone inflation (1000)
Canadian GDP (1330)

But Sterling leads the way elsewhere

For those of you sending money to Australian, Canada, South Africa or New Zealand, there is better news however – the Pound has been performing very well in recent weeks against these currencies. We have seen the best rates for 6 years (AUD), 7 years (CAD), 10 years (ZAR) and 5 years (NZD), all over the last couple of weeks. Despite retail sales figures disappointing last week, the UK’s economy is still among the fastest growing in the world and a strong economy brings a strong currency.