Sterling
Traders have obviously come to expect poor data from the UK as yesterday’s worse than expected Construction Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) data mirrored Friday's Manufacturing release, but caused next to no reaction in the market. Whilst sterling dipped its toe in the waters below 1.50 once again in early trading, it recovered through the day to a high just above 1.51 against the US dollar, and over 1.16 against the euro. The recovery would indicate that markets see sterling as being undervalued at these low prices, but with Services PMI released this morning, and the Monetary Policy Committee releasing monthly asset purchasing and interest rate figures on Thursday, sterling is certainly not out of the woods yet. With the Governor of the Bank of England speaking tomorrow as well, we can expect the volatility to continue as traders place their bets ahead of Thursday as to whether quantitative easing will be extended or not. Call in now for the latest news and prices.
Euro
The euro suffered yesterday as the political turmoil in Italy continues to drags on, causing the euro to fall below the 1.30 mark against the US dollar and to weaken to above 1.16 against sterling. Spanish unemployment figures showed that whilst unemployment was still rising, the increase was at a much slower pace. Investor confidence figures released yesterday morning were much worse than expected. The Economic and Financial Affairs Council (ECOFIN) meetings today follow on from the Eurogroup meetings yesterday where finance ministers all meet to discuss the state of Europe and the Eurozone in general – with the bailout deal for Cyprus one of the main priorities alongside the Italian political deadlock. Services PMI data released today will be watched closely by traders – in particular the Spanish and Italian figures. Call in now for the latest news and changes in the euro rate.
The US dollar traded on the side-lines yesterday as no important data was released. During the day, two Federal Reserve Governors were speaking on the challenges confronting monetary policy in what has been an unusually weak recovery from a severe recession, moreover, they were talking about the Federal Reserve’s progress on ending the “too-big-to-fail” culture – to ensure taxpayers money is not used to bailout large financial institutions in the future. The market reaction to the stalemate of Fridays meeting has been fairly muted and President Obama has now suggested that he is willing to compromise to end the sequester. Today’s main release will be the monthly Non-Manufacturing PMI, which is currently forecast to show a small decline to 55.0 in February – but still demonstrating clear industry expansion. Call in now to get the latest news from your trader.
Elsewhere the Hungarian forint was the worst performer yesterday after markets speculated that the central bank may use its foreign-currency reserves to give the economy a boost. The Australian dollar struggled yesterday, falling to an 8 month low after new building data fell for a second consecutive month, before this morning's interest rate decision to keep interest rates at 3%. The Canadian dollar also fell to a similar low ahead of an interest rate decision on Wednesday as Traders bet on further weakness as commodity prices drop. Looking forwards, the biggest story this week is likely to be the Bank of Japan press conference on Thursday as the appointment process for the new governor draws to a close. Get in touch now for the latest news and prices.
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