Sterling exchange rates dropping across the board

4 December, 2018

Rob Bastin

December opened the new month with Sterling exchange rates dropping across the board as Brexit deal concerns continue to dominate the headlines with the parliament vote now just only 1 week away. The pound is likely to come under continued pressure leading up to the vote on December 11th and even more so after the events should the deal fail to get the backing of MP’s. With the odds currently heavily in favour of this outcome, it is very possible that traders will begin to price this in over the coming days leaving little room for buying opportunities by holding on.

As it is the beginning of a new month there is also the usual raft of new data each day, however, in the current climate eco-stats are fading into the background compared to Brexit developments and are having little impact on rates. Yesterday was a perfect example of this with UK Manufacturing PMI coming in at 53.1, up from just 51.1 last month, however, the pound failed to gain any ground at all following the announcement and instead simply continued its morning decline.

Overnight we had the latest interest rate decision from Australia with the RBA holding base rates at 1.5% as expected. The day ahead will see the next UK PMI figure released at 9:30am for the Construction sector, although perhaps of greater note is a speech from BoE’s Mark Carney at 9:15am. The weeks ahead are likely to be some of the most volatile markets we have seen for some time so if you an imminent transfer, or indeed requirements in the new year, make sure you are in close contact with your broker so we can help you manage the risk levels and optimise the rate on your exchange.