Euro Claws Back Losses

The pound spent yesterday losing ground across the board again, continuing this week’s trend as a lack of data gave investors little to go on.

Further profit taking was seen as the euro came out on top, gaining a cent against the pound and ¾ cent from the US dollar which had been heading down towards parity recently. The only data of note in the morning was UK public sector net borrowing which came in under expectations by nearly £1 billion, so quite hefty a difference paving the way for sterling to lose ground.

The US dollar was slightly volatile after lunch as home sale figures came in better than forecast but the oil crude stocks missed its mark so having lost out it then gained, finishing over half a cent up against the pound.

Overnight New Zealand saw the release of its GDP figure which came out at 1.1 percent, from the expected 0.9 percent. As a result of the better economic growth figure the Kiwi strengthened but only by half a cent and this gain was soon reversed.

Today is slightly busier for figures as we have the EU economic bulletin first thing, followed after lunch by US inflation, jobs stats and GDP plus durable goods orders. Further North we go to Canada and the release of their retail sales and inflation before coming back to the US for house price figures mid-afternoon. All in all, a pretty busy afternoon for anyone with a sterling, euro or dollar requirement with the three so intrinsically connected, one always affects the others. Will it be a day of respite for sterling’s losses or a continuation?

If you’d rather not risk it, give one of the team a call this morning to discuss your currency requirement and get some friendly guidance from one of the team.