News

Euro rate dips below €1.10

28 July, 2011

CurrencyIndex

The rate for buying Euros has dropped below €1.10 this morning amid frenzied selling off of the Pound, following speculation that the forthcoming General Election could result in a hung parliament on top of further economic worries regarding the UK’s credit and economic recovery.

This week’s currency update

28 July, 2011

CurrencyIndex

The Pound remains under sever pressure this week after Friday’s disappointing revision to GDP – althouth the headlines reported an improvement to the Q4 figure, the government actually revised the annual growth number DOWN resulting in a broad sterling sell-off.

Exchange rates have fallen significantly against all major currencies.

This week, the following data will be of interest:

Monday 1st
0900 Eurozone PMT inflation
0930 UK mortgage approvals
1000 Eurozone unemployment rate
1330 Canadian GDP
1330 US personal consumption & spending

Tuesday 2nd
0330 Australian interest rate decision
0645 Swiss GDP
1400 Canadian interest rate decision

Wednesday 3rd
0030 Asutralian GDP
0700 German retail sales
1000 Eurozone retail sales

Thursday 4th
0030 Australian trade balance
1000 Eurozone GDP
1200 Bank of England interest rates & quantitative easing
1245 Eurozone interest rate decision
1330 US jobless claims

Friday 5th
1330 US average earnings, non-farm payrolls & unemployment rate

Market awaits GDP figures tomorrow

28 July, 2011

CurrencyIndex

Friday at 9.30am sees the revision to the fourth quarter GDP figures, which showed on first estimate last month that the UK had crept out of recession.

As other economies around the world seem to be emerging in a better position than the UK, it will be interesting to see if there is an upward revision to the paltry growth figures announced in January.

If you are sending money overseas or making transfers back to sterling from another currency, you should check tomorrow morning to see what the effect has been on the Pound. Any downward revision is likely to hurt sterling badly, and given recent economic events it may be expensive to rely on a positive outcome.

Speak to an FSA-regulated currency company today if you are concerned about the effects on your own transaction.

Mervyn King hints at more QE

28 July, 2011

CurrencyIndex

The Bank of England governor, Mervyn King, has hinted today in a question session with a parliamentary committee, that the Quantitative Easing policy may not be over after all.

Based on February’s inflation report, King said that there were still significant risks to the UK’s recovery, and unsurprisingly the Pound has fallen on the back of his comments.

With Friday’s GDP adjustment poised to sent jitters through the currency markets if there is further bad news, commercial exchange rates are looking particularly fragile at present.

This week’s data releases

28 July, 2011

CurrencyIndex

After a raft of key data last week in the UK, things look quiet this week until Thursday when we have various unemployment, GDP and inflation figures out. The Pound seems to have lost its momentum for the moment and if you are sending money abroad it may be wise to check exchange rates sooner rather than later.

Monday 22nd
No major data

Tuesday 23rd
0930 – BBA UK mortgage approvals
1500 – US consumer confidence

Wednesday 24th
0700 – German GDP and consumer confidence
1200 – US mortgage applications

Thursday 25th
0200 – New Zealand business confidence
0815 – Swiss employment rate
0855 – German unemployment rate
1000 – Eurozone consumer confidence
2145 – New Zeland trade balance

Friday 26th
0930 – UK GDP
1000 – Eurozone CPI inflation
1330 – US GDP

Retail sales hit new low

28 July, 2011

CurrencyIndex

This morning’s retail sales figures were the worst since June 2008 – showing a 1.8% drop in January, 3 times worse than expected.

Regular readers will not be surprised to learn that the Pound has fallen on the back of this news.

There is little news likely to improve exchange rates, so anybody who needs to make foreign currency transfers might like to consider booking a rate in case things go from bad to worse, with no major UK data due out before next Friday.

Public finances deteriorate sharply

28 July, 2011

CurrencyIndex

This morning’s public borrowing figures were much worse than expected – leading to sharp losses for sterling.

The net deficit of £4.3bn was the worse since comparable records began in 1993, and compared to a surplus of over £5bn in January last year.

The worry for sterling is that such negative data could send exchange rates on a downward spiral after recent gains – which is only good news if you are transferring money back to the UK rather than sending it abroad.

Please contact Currency Index for the latest rates.

Unemployment up… but Bank of England helps sterling

28 July, 2011

CurrencyIndex

This morning’s unemployment figures were worse than expected – with the number of peoplpe claiming benefit up 23,500 in January and the official unemployment rate now at 7.8%.

Usually the Pound would fall on such negative news – but the figures were released at the same time as the Bank of England announced that its Monetary Policy Committee voted 9-0 to pause Quantitative Easing at its February meeting. Analysts had expected a closer decision, and this has been seen as a positive signal for the UK economoy and therefore for the Pound.

As a result the rates for sending money overseas in most currencies have risen slightly this morning.

Tomorrow’s public sector borrowing figures are the next big test for the UK’s recovery and are likely to move exchange rates back down sharply if borrowing is much higher than expected.

Inflation as expected – house prices up

28 July, 2011

CurrencyIndex

In the first of 4 key days of UK data this week, inflation figures have come out only slightly below expectations at 3.5% for the year to January.

At the same time, the DCLG (government) figures on house prices showed a surprise 2.2% increase in 2009.

The net effect on the Pound has been negligible, with tomorrow’s unemployment figures at 9.30am the next focus.

If you need to send money in Euros, the German ZEW survey out at 10am could cause some movement in Euro exchange rates.

Currency news this week 15 Feb 2010

28 July, 2011

CurrencyIndex

This week’s economic calendar is below; the main figures of interest for sterling will be the Bank of England minutes on Wednesday, and Tuesday’s inflation figures will be of interest. With unemployment and public borrowing figures also out this week, there could be a rocky road ahead for the Pound.

Do call us at Currency Index to discuss your exact requirements, and to make sure you don’t get caught out by volatile exchange rates.

Monday 15th

Ban k holiday in Canada, USA and some European countries

UK house prices (Rightmove)

Tuesday 16th

0930 – UK CPI inflation

1000 – German & Eurozone ZEW economic sentiment surveys

1330 – Canadian manufacturing shipments

Wednesday 17th

0930 – Bank of England minutes & UK unemployment rate

1330 – US import price index

1900 – US FOMC minutes

Thursday 18th

0715 – Swiss trade balance

0930 – UK public borrowing

1000 – Eurozone consumer confidence survey

1330 – US PPI inflation

Friday 19th

0700 – German PPI inflation

0900 – Eurozone current account deficit

0930 – UK retail sales

1330 – US CPI inflation

1330 – Canadian retail sales