The Week Ahead

The Euro made significant initial gains in Asian trading this morning, but both Sterling and the Dollar have managed to claw back around half a percent against the Euro, since the European markets have opened.

While this bailout is good news for Spain and is a clear indication of the support the Eurozone as a whole will give its members and therefore the currency itself, it does not hide the fact that the whole area is still in a dire situation. Hence the volatile reaction despite this good news.

This week has various pieces of economic data released, including UK house price info from RICS tonight, UK manufacturing and industrial production figures tomorrow, European industrial figures and US industrial and retails sale on Wednesday, ECB monthly report and European and US inflation figures on Thursday and UK trade balance and European employment data on Friday. There is also a further UK GDP estimate out tomorrow afternoon, which could be very interesting given the recent announcement that the UK recession is deeper than previously thought – deeper still or maybe a little improved – we shall see.

All in all a very busy week, so stay in touch with your dedicated account manager to keep abreast of the exchange rates relevant to you.