Busy End to March Post Article 50 Trigger

Last week Theresa May finally triggered Article 50 to begin the process of the UK leaving the European Union. After months of uncertainty and with Sterling plummeting against both of the majors this may stabilise the Pound somewhat and remove the vulnerability of Sterling in the Currency Market. It was expected that once the announcement of Article 50 was made that Sterling would have lost further ground to the Euro and Dollar, however it is now clear that the move to trigger Article 50 was heavily priced into the market and as such the pound is seemingly making a slight recovery from it’s woe’s from the past few months of uncertainty.

From Thursday through to Friday Sterling gained 3 cents on the Euro, this encouraging spike for the Pound has brought great buying opportunities for Euro buyers, for example on a €100,000 Euro purchase this recent spike would have saved you £2000. As we have seen in the past few months, these spikes can be short lived so it may be prudent to consider your options should you have a requirement in the future.

April is set to be a busy month on the currency markets, as the data releases come throughout the month but more importantly is the French elections. The first round is being held on the 23rd of April and with various polls due to be released it will surely create some volatility in the rates. This week there are Various data releases to keep your eye on that is likely to affect the markets.

On Monday afternoon the US will release Manufacturing PMI. In the early hours of Tuesday Morning, the Royal Bank of Australia hold their interest rate decision. Wednesday the ECB hold the Monetary policy meeting followed in the afternoon by the FOMC minutes. Rounding the week off on Friday the UK release manufacturing production figures and later in the afternoon the US release Non-farm payrolls and the unemployment rate.