Pound slips and Australian interest rate decision

As we move into October, Sterling has started the same way it closed out September by losing more ground on the Euro. Through out yesterday’s trading the pound lost over half a cent on the Euro and around a cent against the US dollar. Both the Euro zone and the UK posted negative market manufacturing PMI figures but it was Sterling to ultimately be worse off as early into the day slipped nearly a cent on the Euro. Last month Sterling had been experiencing two month highs but that now seems short lived. With Brexit negotiations now in full swing it is highly likely that any information released will have an impact and as seen in previous times is usually sterling negative. It is worth noting that although the pound has started to fall away slightly rates are still far superior to trading levels of sub 1.10s seen in August.

Should you have a requirement for currency in the future but do not want to miss out on the current rates with Sterling dropping then a forward contract may be a good option to take advantage of, get in contact with your account manager for more information. The Australian interest rate decision was also announced last night.

Australian interest rate decision

The reserve bank of Australia kept the interest rate at 1.5%. RBA governor Phillip Lowe was quoted to say “Taking account of the available information, the Board judged that holding the stance of monetary policy unchanged at this meeting would be consistent with sustainable growth in the economy and achieving the inflation target over time”. The Australian Dollar weakened slightly overnight, good news if you need to send money to Australia.

The day ahead

Today we only have a couple of important date releases to note. Starting in the UK at 9.30am PMI construction figures are to be released, the reading is expected to read at 50.8, lower than last month’s reading which could see the pound weaken early doors. Later at 10am in the Euro zone producer price index figures will be announced, the figure is expected to come in 0.3% higher than lasts months reading, should this be the case Euro may get an early boost in the morning.