Sterling
On the whole a disappointing week for sterling - strong retail sales figures early in the week were encouraging signs for the British economy, giving sterling a short boost, but it has slipped away since. Key to driving this decline was two further members of the monetary policy committee calling for a looser monetary policy to stimulate growth in the country. Yesterday, the Office for national statistics revised their figures from last year to say that growth was substantially lower than previously thought, but, Britain did not see the two consecutive quarters of negative growth which would indicate a double dip recession. The focus for the next few days is undoubtedly going to be Mark Carney's entrance as new Governor of the Bank of England. While he has made it clear that there is no panacea for British economic woes, great expectations rest on his shoulders. Call your trader today for the latest news and rates for the UK and sterling.
The euro struggled this week, following comments from the President of the European Central Bank President who said that the economic outlook still warrants an accommodative monetary policy stance. Notably, the euro bought less than 1.30 US dollars for the first time in a month on Wednesday. The European economic summit kicked off yesterday, with ministers from across the Eurozone attempting to come to a conclusion on a banking union. Positive unemployment figures from Germany lent some support to a struggling euro yesterday putting a halt to the downward trend, but the overall picture is still not strong for the 17-member state currency. Get in touch today for the latest on the euro.
The US dollar has enjoyed a very strong week – reaching 1.30 against the euro and 1.52 against sterling at its peak. The Chairman of the Federal Open Market Committee kick started the trend with the announcement last Friday that stimulus programs will be tapered out. Positive data from the States helped the US dollar to strengthen further still, indicating a healthy recovering economy. This trend of dollar strength continued in spite of GDP figures being revised down from initial expectations showing growth was only at 1.8%, a long way shy of the 2.4% that had initially been anticipated. Speak to your trader for up to the second rates, and the latest market news.
Elsewhere, as Kevin Rudd returned for a second stint as Prime Minister of Australia following a party leadership ballot, the Australian dollar enjoyed the most positive week it has in some time. The Norwegian krone fell almost 2 percent against sterling as markets continued to react to last week's surprise cut in interest rates, with its Swedish counterpart being hit hard too though seeing some recovery through the week. The Indian rupee continued to free-fall, moving to new all-time lows. GDP data released from Canada this afternoon is expected to show the economy only grew by 0.1%; any variation away from this could spark a big reaction in the market. Call your trader for rates and news for your currency.
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