Last week the Pound made new highs for the year against US Dollar and the Euro in the foreign exchange market. The GBP/EUR exchange rate opened up at 1.2159 from Monday to trade up towards 1.2251 during the week before closing at 1.2201 on Friday. The GBP/USD exchange rate opened up at 1.5826 on Monday to gain across the course of the week and made new highs at 1.6142, before finishing the week around the 1.56121 level. The Pound also gained 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 1.9265 to trade higher at 1.9742 by the close of the week. The GBP/AUD exchange rate opened up from 1.5308 and finished the week higher at 1.5536.
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 Nationwide Consumer Confidence, Public Finances and Public Sector Net Borrowing. Followed by the Gross Domestic Product data due at 09:30 GMT on Wednesday, where economists are expecting a decline from 0.5% to 0.3% for the year-on-year figure and an increase from -0.3% to 0.1% for the Month-on-month. By the end of the week we have the Nationwide House Prices and GfK Consumer Confidence Survey due on Friday.
We have no scheduled economic data from the UK today.
The Euro gained against the US Dollar and declined against the Pound throughout last week in the currency exchange market. The EUR/USD rate picked up from 1.3016 at Monday’s open, to trade up to a week high of 1.3225 before trading back to 1.3211 by the close of the European trading session on Friday.
The main market focus for the week ahead in Europe will begin on Thursday, with the release of Euro-zone Consumer Confidence (Apr) and Business Climate Indicator (APR) all due at 10:00 GMT, followed by German Consumer Price Index (Apr) due at 13:00 GMT. To end the week we have the German GfK Consumer Confidence Survey due on Friday at 07:00 GMT, where economists are expecting no change at 5.9.
This morning the French Business Confidence Indicator (Apr) missed expectation, coming in at 95 vs. 96 and down from the prior month of 98. Both French Purchasing Manager Index for Manufacturing and Services missed expectations, with the Manufacturing coming in at 47.3 vs. 47.4 and Services 46.4 vs. 50.1. German Purchasing Manager Index was mixed with the Manufacturing missing expectations coming in at 46.3 vs. 49 and Services gained coming in at 52.6 vs. 52.3 and up from the prior month of 52.1. Italian Consumer Confidence also declined coming in at 89.0 down from the prior month of 96.3 and finally the Euro-zone PMI declined to 47.4 vs. 49.1 from the prior month, putting further strain on the Euro this morning.
In a moment we have the Euro-zone Government Debt-GDP Ratio (2011) due at 10:00 GMT.
The US Dollar declined across the board especially against the Euro and the Pound in the currency markets last week. This week’s key events to look out for will be Tuesday’s Consumer Confidence (Apr) and New Home Sales (mar) both due at 15:00 GMT. During the week on Wednesday we will be looking out for the Durable Goods Orders (Mar) due at 13:30 GMT and on Thursday we have the Chicago Fed Nat Activity Index (Mar) alongside the Initial and Continuing Jobless claims all due at 13:00 GMT. Finally to end the week we will look out for the Gross Domestic Product due 13:30 GMT on Friday where economists are expecting a decline for the annualized figure from 3.0% to 2.5%.
There is no schedule economic data release from the US today.
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This Daily Market Update is brought to you by The Market Team @ KBRFX – Exchange Rate, Currency Conversion & Foreign Currency Transfer specialists.
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