Exchange rates steady as Draghi speaks today

The Pound did well yesterday after services growth figures were better than expected, giving us small gains for rates to send Euros and US Dollars abroad. Elsewhere there were no surprises, with Canadian interest rates held at 1%, and Eurozone GDP unaltered at 0.5% for 2013. There has already been more positive news for the UK this morning with house prices up 7.9% for the 3 months to February – although some might argue that is too good and a sign of another house price bubble which could yet burst. 

Indeed the UK recovery is still susceptible to spanners in the works, and the Bank of England will have to be careful in the coming months if it want to increase interest rates in 2015 – caution on interest rates could hamper the Pound’s progress.

Today we have the monthly interest rate decisions from the Bank of England and European Central Bank. No changes are expected, but Mario Draghi, the ECB President, will give his press conference this afternoon which often affects the value of the single currency. Will Draghi strike a bullish tone, talking the Euro up and therefore bringing rates for buying Euros back down again?

There is little else out today but markets will of course have one eye on the Ukraine situation, as EU leaders hold an emergency summit to decide how strongly to react to Russia’s troop deployment.

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