A Downward Trend

Yesterday was a fairly quiet day on the markets with no market-moving data releases to report on. We did however see a continuation of sentiment leading the markets following last week’s dominating event in the Far East, with the Chinese stock market closure.

The pound continues to be the unfortunate loser of the 3 major currencies, with talks of a UK interest rate rise going quiet and with no major UK data releases out to support its strengthening this is likely to continue.

The US Dollar has strengthened off the back of the recent Chinese market closure and has carried the Euro with it allowing the euro to continue making gains. However, Euro buyers shouldn’t be completely put off by the recent strength in the single currency. It should be noted that following December’s weakness, the current rates are not completely unusual. It does however seem likely that this current trend will continue as there are no major data announcements due to sway the rates dramatically.  So for those looking to place a Euro order, it may be a good idea to consider locking into an exchange rate sooner rather than later.

Today’s main data releases kick off first thing this morning with industrial and manufacturing production at 9:30, followed by NIESR GDP estimate at 3pm. Tomorrow main releases to look out for include, Non-monetary policy ECB meeting, EU industrial production, US budget statement, NZ retail sales, AUS employment data.

As always, if you have an upcoming requirement be that sending or receiving payments in foreign currencies then please do get in touch and speak with one of our friendly team at Currency Index on 01923 725 725 to receive the latest live quotes.