This week’s exchange rate news

There is a bank holiday in the USA for Labour Day today, so trading may be fairly quiet on the – but for the rest of this week we return to key announcements in the UK by the Bank of England on Thursday and on industrial figures on Tuesday.

Last week, Friday’s US employment data was very close to expectations, making little impression on the rate for sending dollars to America. In Australia, speculation that interest rates will be raised soon is making the AUD more expensive, despite the RBA’s decision to keep the central bank rate on hold at 3% last week.

In all cases for sending currency abroad, the Bank of England’s monthly announcement on Thursday is the key event this week. If the Bank continue their policy of quantitative easing, this is likely to be seen as negative for sterling, while any signal that the policy is coming to an end is likely to make exchange rates better. The vote was split last month and this month’s outcome will be taken as an important signal for the UK economy, and therefore sterling’s value around the world.

Monday 7th

US MARKETS CLOSED

1100 – German factory orders

Tuesday 8th

Overnight – RICS House Price Balance

0930 – UK Industrial & Manufacturing Production

Wednesday 9th

Overnight – UK Consumer Confidence

0930 – UK Trade Balance

Thursday 10th

Overnight – UK GDP

1200 – Bank of England Interest Rates & Quantitative Easing

1330 – US Trade Balance

Friday 11th

0900 – ECB September Report

0930 – UK PPI Inflation