Unfortunate week for the Pound

Last week the pound took a further hit following an unexpected slowdown for UK inflation and despite having better than expected data in the form of UK retail sales on Thursday the currency didn’t react as positively as it may have done historically – likely dues to heavy market sentiment being with the Euro. Last week the ECB also announced that they have decided to leave the refinancing rate unchanged and make no changed just yet to the quantitative easing program, this news was anticipated and Draghi then as he is well known for talked up the euro during the press conference which followed the news and the Euro then rallied, leaving those with Sterling in hand with a view to exchange to Euros disappointed with the sudden reversal in rates.

With very little UK data due for the rest of this month we could well see these current rates continue to stick around (at least in the short term) With charts now indicating a continuation of a downward trend for the Pound, if you have an upcoming Euro requirement due in the coming weeks then it might be wise to consider your options when booking your currency. Book in tranches and spread the risk, or talk to one of our friendly brokers about our forward contracts and limit orders which we provide. – Just another helpful tool you can mull over to help you secure your upcoming requirements.

Watch to watch for in the week ahead:

MONDAY
09:00 EUR Markit Services & Manufacturing PMI
14:45 USD Markit Services & Manufacturing PMI

TUESDAY
14:00 USD Housing Price Index

WEDNESDAY
02:30 AUD Inflation
09:30 GBP GDP Data
11:00 GBP Inflation Report Hearings
15:00 USD New Home Sales
19:00 USD FED Monetary Policy Statement

THURSDAY
13:30 USD Initial & Continuing Jobless Claims, Durable Goods Balance

FRIDAY
00:00 GBP Consumer Confidence
00:00 JPY Inflation, Unemployment Rate, Household spending, Retail Trade.
10:00 EUR Consumer Confidence, Services Sentiment, Business Climate, Economic Sentiment Indicator & Industrial Confidence
13:30 USD GDP Data
13:30 CAD GDP Data
13:30 USD Core Personal Consumption Expenditure