Foreign Exchange Daily Market Update 12/03/12

The Pound closed out last week having made a loss against the US Dollar and against the Euro in the foreign exchange market. The GBP/EUR exchange rate moved down from Monday’s open at 1.1980, to close the week at 1.1957. The GBP/USD exchange rate declined slightly across the course of the week, starting from Monday’s open at 1.5807 the pair traded to a week high of 1.5882 before finishing the week around the 1.5673 level. The Pound also declined against the Australian dollar and against the New Zealand Dollar in the foreign exchange market last week. The GBP/NZD exchange rate picked up from 1.9182, to trade lower at 1.9067 by the close of the week. The GBP/AUD exchange rate opened up from 1.4805 and finished the week lower at 1.4795.

The week ahead will see some key economic data released from the UK. The first significant data to look out for will be released Tuesday with the Visible Trade Balance due at 09:30 GMT, where economists are expecting a further decline from -£7111 to -£7900. Then on Wednesday we have Jobless Claims Change due at 09:30 GMT, where economists are expecting a decline from 6.9k to 5.0k. There is no data from the UK today.

The Euro declined against the US Dollar, but gained against the Pound throughout last week in the currency exchange market. The EUR/USD rate picked up from 1.3189 at Monday’s open, to trade down to a week low of 1.3096 before coming back to 1.3108 by the close of the European trading session on Friday.

The main market focus for the week ahead in Europe will be at 10:00 GMT on Tuesday with the release of German ZEW Survey, which is expected to increase from 5.4 to 10. On Wednesday we have the release of the Euro-Zone Consumer Price Index also due at 10:00 GMT, followed by the ECB monthly report due at 09:00 GMT on Thursday.

This morning we have seen German Wholesale Price Index for month-on-month and year-on-year come in line with expectations at 1.0% and 2.6% respectively. Italian GDP showed a slight on the year-on-year figure increasing from -0.5 to -0.4.

There is no further economic data from the Euro-zone today; however EU finance ministers are to hold a meeting in Brussels today at 16:00 GMT.

The US Dollar gained against the Euro and against Pound last week in the currency markets. This week’s key events to look out for will be Tuesday’s Advance Retail Sales due at 12:30 GMT where economists are expecting a gain from 0.4% to 1.1% and we have the FOMC Rate Decision at 18:15 GMT. Wednesday we have the Mortgage applications due at 11:00 GMT, followed by Thursday’s Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims. To end the week we have the Consumer Price Index due at 12:30 GMT on Friday and University of Michigan Confidence due at 13:55 GMT.

There is no economic data from the US today.

This Daily Market Update is brought to you by The Market Team @ KBRFX – Exchange Rate, Currency Conversion & Foreign Currency Transfer specialists.