Foreign Exchange Daily Market Update 03/04/12

The Pound declined against the US Dollar again yesterday but managed some gains against the Euro in the foreign exchange market. The GBP/EUR exchange rate picked up from 1.1994 at the morning’s open to trade in an uptrend towards the day high of 1.2055, before trading back around 1.2024 by the close of the UK business day. The GBP/USD exchange rate picked up from 1.6029 to trade down to the day’s low of 1.5989 before trading back towards 1.6021 by the European market close. The Pound also declined against the New Zealand Dollar and the Australian Dollar in the foreign exchange market yesterday. The GBP/NZD exchange rate picked up from 1.9517 at the morning’s open to trade down towards 1.9436 by the close of the UK business day. The GBP/AUD exchange rate opened up from 1.5395 and finished the session lower at 1.5365.

Yesterday on the economic data front we had seen some positive data from the UK, with Purchasing Manager Index Manufacturing (Mar) increasing from 51.5 to 52.1.

Today we have the UK Purchasing Manager Index Construction (Mar) due at 09:30 GMT, where economists are expecting a decline from 54.3 to 53.4.

The Euro continued to decline against the US dollar and also declined against the Pound in the currency exchange market yesterday. The EUR/USD exchange opened up at 1.3363 and traded in a downtrend towards the day low of 1.3279, before trading back towards 1.3324 by the European market close.

Yesterday from the Euro-zone we had Italian Purchasing Manager Index Manufacturing (Mar) gain from 47.8 to 47.9 across the month, along with German Purchasing Manager Index Manufacturing (Mar) also gaining across the month from 48.1 to 48.4. However French Purchasing Manager Index Manufacturing (Mar) declined from 47.6 to 46.7. Also we had seen a slight increase in Euro-zone Unemployment Rate, increasing from 10.7 to 10.8.

This morning will look out for Euro-zone Producer Price Index year-on-year (Feb) due at 10:00 GMT, where economists are expecting a decrease from 3.7% to 3.5% and 0.7% to 0.5% for the month-on-month figure.

The US Dollar declined against the Pound and gained against the Euro currencies yesterday. On the economic data front from the US, we had seen an increase in ISM Manufacturing (Mar) coming in at 53.4 vs. 53.0 and up from the prior month of 52.4. However Construction Spending declined for the month of February, coming in at -1.1% vs. 0.6% expected by economists.

Later today we will be looking out for the US Factory Orders (Feb) due at 15:00 GMT, where economists are expecting a rise from -1.0% to 1.5% and the FOMC Meeting due to be held at 19:00 GMT.

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