Rates rangebound ahead of main data for the week

8 October, 2013

Robin Haynes

As we expected yesterday did not see any exciting movement on the currency markets, with very little data or news out to get traders around the world changing their positions. The Pound did manage to make back some of last week’s losses through the day, gaining around half a cent against both the Euro and US Dollar.

In the States, there were signs of renewed efforts to find a solution to the current budget deadlock. President Obama said he may accept a short term increase in the US borrowing limits, in order to avoid a complete meltdown of government, while influential Republicans were more amenable to reforming the tax code. Not a breakthrough, but perhaps encouragement that a deal will be done before October 17th, which would avert the current budget effectively expiring and causing a major crisis. If and when a deal is done, we would expect to see US Dollar strength, giving lower rates for sending money to the USA – so if you are buying Dollars, it may be wise to do so before a deal is done or before the 17th at least.

Today we have a few data releases due out, notably German factory orders and trade balance, Swiss inflation and unemployment, and others in Canada, New Zealand and Australia. Do remember that the Pound has been riding high of late, and sending money abroad is still very good value at the moment relative to most of the year to date.

There is no major UK data due out until Wednesday so rates are likely to be dominated by events elsewhere, for the latest quotes on your own transfer contact us at Currency Index and see how much you can save compared to using your bank.