Pound takes out the competition with rises, ready for inflation figures

Last week saw the pound rise steadily as it out performed its competitors in the fx markets. Following a raft of positive data, along with a surprisingly hawkish speech by the new BoE governor Mark Carney, the pound strengthened over 1 % against both the dollar and the euro as optimism continued about the speed of our economic recovery. It would be fair to say that the dollar was the biggest loser as the eurozone also released a string of good news which left the greenback somewhat stuck in free fall. A note of caution for any euros buyers out there might be the fact that despite all the good news surrounding the UK at the moment the pound has failed to really push on against the bloc currency and any poor news this week could see it slip back again.

This week is likely to see some pretty heavy action in the markets. We start today without any real ‘market moving’ data but as we go further into the week we see a number of key releases.

Tomorrow sees inflation figures from the UK and eurozone ( ZEW business sentiment also due out from Europe) along with retail sales from America. Wednesday we have GDP figures from Europe and big data from the UK in the form of BoE minutes and unemployment data. Thursday see’s American inflation and UK retail sales whist Friday sees more eurozone inflation data. As you can see a pretty busy week ahead so to ensure you don’t get caught out by any sudden market movements stay in touch with your account manager here at Currency Index to help you save money overseas.