A round up of last week

22 January, 2018

Grace Rae

Early in the week, the UK released the latest inflation figures which came in line with expectations although slipped to 3% from 3.1%, the first decline in six months. The release didn’t have any immediate impact on the rates – possibly another indicator that the pending Brexit trade talks are still dominating the direction of the Pound. Midweek we saw a small uplift against the Euro which provided us with the best buying rates on GBP-EUR since last May – these levels against the euro maintained over the rest of the week.

Over the weekend Emmanuel Macron gave an interview with the BBC where he suggested that he does see the UK and the EU reaching a bespoke trade deal to suit both interests. Could his outlook on trade talks help aid the Pound in the coming weeks? If you have an upcoming requirement for Euro’s then get in touch with us at Currency Index sooner rather than later as we can update you on any market fluctuations which will certainly affect your currency volume ahead of the next round of Brexit talks.

On Friday the US Government shut down as the Republicans and Democrats failed to agree on the next round of spending for government services, with immigration issues being the main point of the ongoing argument. On a currency point of view, this is not ideal. The last time the US government shut down was in 2013 and lasted 16 days and the Dollar suffered against its majors as a result. If you have a Dollar requirement then get in touch – the shutdown gives the potential for a weaker Dollar so could allow for a good buying opportunity.

On Sunday in Germany, The Social Democratic Party (SPD) voted to approve formal coalition talks. A big event for Angela Merkel this is likely to be the last chance she has to successfully form a coalition and provide some government stability back in Germany. Again, this will be an event that market will watch closely as if these talks fail it’s likely we will see a fresh election which won’t bode well for the Euro.

The week ahead:

Today is a quiet day in the way of eco data. It’s likely that the markets could spend the day adjusting to the weekend’s events so we may be some movement or continue to watch the rates trade with the range it has been sitting in over the past few weeks.

Tuesday:
09:30 GBP Public Sector Net Borrowing
10:00 EUR ZEW Survey – Economic Sentiment
15:00 EUR Consumer Confidence

Wednesday:
09:00 EUR Markit Services PMI & Markit PMI Composite
09:30 GBP Claimant Count Rate & Change
09:30 GBP Average Earnings
09:30 GBP ILO Unemployment Rate
14:00 USD Housing Price Index
14:45 USD Markit Manufacturing PMI
14:45 USD Markit PMI Composite
14:45 USD Markit Services PMI
21:45 NZD Consumer Price Index

Thursday:
12:45 EUR ECB Interest Rate Decision & Deposit Rate Decision
13:30 USD Continuing & Initial Jobless Claims
13:30 EUR ECB Monetary policy statement & press conference
13:30 CAD Retail Sales
15:00 USD New Home Sales

Friday:
09:30 GBP Gross Domestic Product
13:30 USD Gross Domestic Product Price Index & Annualized
13:30 USD Durable Goods Orders & ex Transportation
13:30 CAD Consumer Price Index

If you have a euro requirement then do keep in mind that the current rates are only 1% off the best rates we have seen since May last year, so a great time to get some funds secured. Get in touch with us here at Currency index to discuss the options we provide to help you secure a rate and remove the risk of market volatility especially ahead of the all-important Brexit trade talks due very soon.