A Mixed Day On the Markets

Thursday saw some great volatility for those looking to purchase/sell Euros as investor sentiment chopped between favour and un-favoured. Overnight we heard the IMF had agreed a €1 Billion + package to aid Cyprus achieve its bailout target of €10 billion, which sent the Euro higher over Asian trading. This wasn’t to last long though as once the European markets opened and the raft of data started to get releases we saw things chop and change.

Across the morning we saw various Markit PMI figures from Eurozone countries which showed some positive, some negative although the overall EU figures was less than expected. The UK posted a pleasing 52.4, compared to the expected 51.5 – a decent improvement and a figure which indicated growth in the sector. This gave the pound the fuel to rally slightly in the lead up to the central bank announcements at lunchtime.

UK rates and QE held firm with little expectation for anything different and the Europeans did the same shortly after. The real movement came once the EU press conference kicked off and Mario Draghi pretty much opened with “we have room for further monetary loosening” indicating they could change interest rates or add some QE to the mix but as is often the case recently the half cent losses the Euro made against both the pound and US dollar were short lived and anyone not contactable missed out as he went on to state, the Eurozone had “many risks, big risks” but was united and that Cyprus was certainly not a template for handling the issues in the wider zone.

The pound opens up as it left off against the single currency and pretty much down against everything else as the markets digest relatively flat housing data for the UK released early doors Friday and ahead of MPC member Spencer Dale’s speech at 9am.

EU GDP and retail sales could affect the euro’s movements today. For US dollar buyers we have average earnings and unemployment data plus trade balance at lunchtime and further north, Canadian PMI and employment data likely to bring some movement for anyone looking to by the Loony.

So will today follow suit and bring some peaks and troughs? Stay in touch with your broker here at Currency Index to avoid missing out on any opportune trading levels whether you’re buying or selling, recently the days seem to provide both!