Foreign Exchange Daily Market Update 29/02/12

The Pound gained against the US Dollar and slightly higher against the Euro in the foreign exchange market yesterday. The GBP/EUR exchange rate picked up from 1.1794 at the morning’s open to trade down to the day’s low of 1.1775, before trading back to 1.1807 by the close of the UK business day. The GBP/USD exchange rate picked up from 1.5858 to trade up to the day’s high of 1.5901 before trading back to 1.5885 by the European market close. The Pound also finished higher against the New Zealand Dollar and the Australian Dollar in the foreign exchange market. The GBP/NZD exchange rate picked up from 1.8859 at the morning’s open to trade up towards 1.8960 by the close of the UK business day. The GBP/AUD exchange rate opened up from 1.4715 and finished the session higher at 1.4754.

Yesterday from the UK we had the CBI Retail Survey come in better than expected at -2 vs. -12 and -22 from the previous month. Today we will look out for the 09:30 GMT Mortgage approvals for the month of January, which is expected to increase from 52.9k to 54.0k and Consumer Credit for the month of January, also expected to show an increase from £-0.4bln to £0.2bln.

The Euro declined against the Pound and slightly against the US Dollar in the currency exchange market yesterday. The EUR/USD exchange opened up at 1.3457 to trade down to the day low of 1.3389 before closing out at 1.3451 by the European market close. In spite of the fact S&P lowered its rating on Greece to selective default from CC, the pair finished back near to the opening level as market participants look forward to today’s 3 year LTRO by the ECB.

Yesterday we had some economic data from the Euro-zone; with German GfK Consumer Confidence Survey (Mar) coming in line with expectations at 6.0 up from 5.9 previously, followed by German consumer Price Index year-on-year betting expectations at 2.5% vs. 2.3% previously. As for the Euro-zone, Consumer Confidence came in slightly worse that expected at -20.3 vs. -20.2, followed by Business Climate Indicator also coming in worse than expected at -0.18 vs. -0.15 expected by economists. However Economic Confidence from the Euro-zone continued to show improvement coming in at 94.4 up from 93.4 previously.

This morning we have seen German Imports month-on-month come in better than expected at 1.3% vs 0.3% from the prior month, followed by German unemployment change coming in at 0k vs. -5k expected by economist. Today we will look out for the 10:00 GMT Euro-zone Consumer Confidence year-on-year which is expected to increase from 1.6% to 1.7%.

The US Dollar declined against the Pound and gained slightly against the Euro currencies yesterday. We had some mixed economic data from the US yesterday; with Durable Goods Order (Jan) declining from 3.2% to -3.0%, followed by S&P Case Shiller 20 City coming in at -0.5% vs. -0.35% , which was still lower than -0.74% from the prior month. However later in the day Consumer Confidence showed improvement for the month of February, increasing from 61.5 to 70.8. Also Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index for the month of February also increased from 12 to 20.

Today we will look out for the 13:00 GMT Personal Consumption and Gross Domestic Product Annualised where economists are expecting no change at 2.8%. At 15:00 GMT today we have Fed’s Bernanke delivering a Semi-Annual Monetary Policy Report.

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

Foreign Exchange Daily Market Update 28/02/12

The Pound gained a touch higher against the Euro and declined against the US Dollar in the foreign exchange market yesterday. The GBP/EUR exchange rate picked up from 1.1811 at the morning’s open to trade up to the day’s high of 1.1847, before trading back to 1.1815 by the close of the UK business day. The GBP/USD exchange rate picked up from 1.5858 to trade up to the day’s high of 1.5875 before trading back to 1.5844 by the European market close.

Today we will look out for the 11:00 GMT CBI Reported Sales for the month of February, which expected to increase from -22 to -12.

The Euro declined against the US Dollar and slightly against the Pound in the currency exchange market yesterday. The EUR/USD exchange opened up at 1.3426 to trade down to the day low of 1.3366 before closing out at 1.3409 by the European market close. Yesterday we had some economic data from the Euro-zone; with French Producer Prices year-on-year came in at 4.2% which was better than expected at 4.1% but down from 4.6% previously. However the month-on-month figure for French Producer Price Index came in better at 0.6% compared to the prior month of -0.1%.

This morning we have seen the release of German GfK Consumer Confidence Survey (Mar) which came in line with expectations at 6.0 up from 5.9 previously. At 10:00 GMT today we will look out for the Euro-zone Consumer Confidence, Business Climate Indicator, Economic Confidence, Industrial and Services Confidence all expected to come in better than the previous month. Later in the day we will see the German Consumer Price Index year-on-year due at 13:00, where economists are expecting no change at 2.1%.

The US Dollar gained against the Pound and the Euro currencies yesterday. We had some positive economic data from the US yesterday; with Pending Home Sales year-on-year coming in lower than expected at 10.3% vs. 10.7%, however was a lot higher from 4.4% across the year. Home Sales on a month-on-month basis also showed improvement from -1.9% in the prior month to 2.0%. to end the day we improvement in the Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity (Feb) coming in at 17.8% vs. 15.3 from the prior month.

Today we will look out for the 13:30 GMT US Durable Goods Orders (Jan) expected to decline from 3.0% to -1.0%, followed by Consumer Confidence (Feb) and Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index (Feb) both due at 15:00 GMT.

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

Foreign Exchange Daily Market Update 27/02/12

The Pound closed out last week having lost considerable ground against the Euro; but almost unchanged versus the US Dollar in the foreign exchange market despite a week of choppy trading. The GBP/EUR exchange rate which opened on Monday at 1.2010; fell across the course of the week, to trade down at 1.1786 by Friday’s close – with the GBP/USD exchange rate also taking a sharp drop from 1.5851 at Monday’s open, dipping down to 1.5648 mid-week before recovering to trade back at 1.5873 by the close of play on Friday. The currency was not helped by the release of the Bank of England’s minutes from its last policy meeting; which showed that policy-makers were split over the size of the stimulus required by the UK economy, leaving the door open for the central bank to add further QE in May. The minutes also revealed that two policy-makers argued there was a risk of a prolonged period of depressed demand that would cause inflation to fall materially below target in the medium term. However, most MPC members argued a bigger increase than £50bn "risked sending a signal that the committee thought the economic situation was weaker than it was".

The week ahead will see some significant data released from the UK; most notably Tuesday’s Nationwide house price numbers, and Wednesday’s GfK consumer confidence survey results; which have the potential to spark volatility within the currency exchange market should there be any shock results.

The Euro gained considerable ground against both the Pound and the US Dollar in the currency exchange market last week; with the currency getting a large boost from the news that Greece has secured a second bailout worth approximately 130 billion Euros, and has won a 53.5% reduction in its debt burden to private creditors. This enabled the EUR/USD exchange rate to move up sharply from Monday’s open at 1.3197, to trade up at 1.3467 by Friday’s close. With Euro-zone countries seemingly ‘rallying’ round to agree the package for Greece, it has brought some sense of confidence back into the currency; but the larger problem still remains that these measures may not be enough to secure the longer-term (beyond 2-3 years) future of the country.

The week ahead is packed full of Euro-zone data, which could affect the currency markets. Tuesday will see the release of German CPI (inflation) figures, along with Euro-zone economic, industrial, services, and consumer confidence numbers. Wednesday will turn to the labour market, with the release of the latest German unemployment figures. Thursday will come back to inflation once again, but this time it is price-growth across the whole of the Euro-zone that will come under scrutiny; with the week closing out on Friday with Euro-zone producer price results.

The US Dollar managed to make good mid-week gains against the Pound, after the sombre Bank of England minutes, and positive Euro-zone news, but soon fell back; losing ground overall against the Euro throughout the week. This was despite positive data from the US, with existing home sales showing a good gain for the month, along with February’s University of Michigan confidence numbers also showing a positive upturn.

There is plenty of data scheduled for release from the US this week, with the market focus more than likely to be on Wednesday 4th quarter GDP numbers. Aside from this, Tuesday’s durable goods orders, and Thursday personal consumption and ISM manufacturing figures could give the Dollar some direction within the market.

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

Foreign Exchange Daily Market Update 24/02/12

The Pound a touch higher against the US Dollar and slightly lower against the Euro in the foreign exchange market yesterday. The GBP/EUR exchange rate picked up from 1.1798 at the morning’s open to trade up to the day’s high of 1.1827, before trading back to 1.1794 by the close of the UK business day. The GBP/USD exchange rate picked up from 1.5695 to trade down to the day’s high of 1.5731 before trading back to 1.5698 by the European market close. The Pound also finished lower against the New Zealand Dollar and but gained slightly against the Australian Dollar in the foreign exchange market. The GBP/NZD exchange rate picked up from 1.8842 at the morning’s open to trade down to 1.8832 by the close of the UK business day. The GBP/AUD exchange rate opened up from 1.4672 and finished the session higer at 1.4685.

Yesterday from the UK we had seen BBA Loans For House Purchases showed an improvement from 36,553 to 38,092, along with the CBI Trends Total Orders (Feb) increasing from 100.9 previously to 102.3. Today from the UK we will look out for the 09:30 GMT Gross Domestic Product year-on-year, where economists are expecting no change at 0.8%. We will also keep an eye of the GDP components also due at 09:30 GMT.

The Euro gained against the pound and against the US Dollar in the currency exchange market yesterday. The EUR/USD exchange opened up at 1.3296 to trade up to the day high of 1.3342 before closing out at 1.3308 by the European market close. Yesterday we some economic data from the Euro-zone; with German IFO – Business Climate (Feb) increasing from 108.3 to 109.6 and German IFO Expectations (Feb) came in at 102.3 versus 100.9 previously. Italian Consumer Confidence Indicator also showed improvement increasing from 91.8 to 94.2.

This morning we have seen the release of German Gross Domestic Product n.s.a which came in line with expectations of 1.5% for the year-on-year number and GDP w.d.a. came in at 2.0%.we have no further economic data scheduled from the Euro-zone today.

The US Dollar declined slightly against the Pound and against the Euro currencies yesterday. We had some positive economic data from the US yesterday; with Continuing Claims for the week of Feb18 declined from 3444k to 3392k and initial jobless claims came in better than expected at 351k vs. 355k expected by economists. Also the House Price Index month-on-month showed no change from the prior month of 0.7% but the came in better than the 0.4% expected by economist.

Today we will look out for the US University of Michigan Confidence (Feb) due at 14:55 GMT, which is expected to increase slightly from 72.5 to 72.8 by economists. Also we will keep an eye on the 15:00 GMT New Home Sales for the month of January which is expected to show an improvement from 307k to 315k.

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

Foreign Exchange Daily Market Update 23/02/12

The Pound finished lower against the US Dollar and against the Euro in the foreign exchange market yesterday. The GBP/EUR exchange rate picked up from 1.1921 at the morning’s open to trade down to the day’s low of 1.1822, before trading back to 1.1828 by the close of the UK business day. The GBP/USD exchange rate picked up from 1.5774 to trade down to the days low of 1.5647 before trading back to 1.5676 by the European market close. The Pound also finished lower against the New Zealand Dollar and the Australian Dollar in the foreign exchange market. The GBP/NZD exchange rate picked up from 1.8926 at the morning’s open to trade down to 1.8895 by the close of the UK business day. The GBP/AUD exchange rate opened up from 1.4808 and finished the session lower at 1.4742.

Today from the UK we will look out for the 09:30 GMT BBA Loans for House Purchase (Jan) expected to increase from 36,171 to 36,250. Followed by CBI Trends Selling Prices and Total orders (Feb) which are due at 11:00 GMT.

The Euro gained against the pound and against the US Dollar in the currency exchange market yesterday. The EUR/USD exchange opened up at 1.3221 to trade up to the day high of 1.3267 before closing out at 1.3250 by the European market close. Yesterday we saw a fair bit of economic data from the Euro-zone; with French PMI Manufacturing coming in better than expected at 50.2 vs. 49.0 and the French CPI coming in line with expectations at 2.6% vs. Exp. 2.8%. German PMI Manufacturing and Services both came in slightly lower, with Manufacturing coming in at 50.1 vs. 51.5 and PMI Services coming in short at 52.6 vs. 53.9 expected by economists.

This morning we have seen the release of German IFO Business Climate, Current Assessment and Expectations for the month of February, which have all come in better than expected. German Business Climate came in at 109.6 vs. 108.8 expected, followed by Current Assessment beating expectations at 117.5 vs. 116.5 and German IFO Expectations came in at 102.3 vs. 102 expected by economists.

The US Dollar gained against the Pound, but declined slightly against the Euro currencies yesterday. Yesterday we saw mixed data from the US as Existing Home Sales month-on-month (Jan) came in short of expectations at $4.75m vs. $4.65m expected. However previous months figure was revised from $4.61m to $4.38m, showing that the data is more positive prior to the previous month.

Today we will look out for the US week-on-week Initial and Continuing jobless claims due at 13:30 GMT, followed by US House Price Index M/M (Dec) due at 15:00GMT.

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

Foreign Exchange Daily Market Update 22/02/12

The Pound finished lower against the US Dollar and against the Euro in the foreign exchange market yesterday. The GBP/EUR exchange rate picked up from 1.1937 at the morning’s open to trade down to the days low of 1.1897, before trading back to 1.1916 by the close of the UK business day. The GBP/USD exchange rate traded lower after opening near the high of the day at 1.5853 to 1.5793 by the European market close. The Pound also finished lower against the New Zealand Dollar and the Australian Dollar in the foreign exchange market. The GBP/NZD exchange rate picked up from 1.8921 at the morning’s open to trade down to 1.8880 by the close of the UK business day. The GBP/AUD exchange rate opened up from 1.4796 and finished the session lower at 1.4768.

Yesterday from the UK we saw Public Finances (PSNCR) (Jan) come in much better than expected at £-16.8bln vs. £-24.7bln expected by economists. However Public Sector Net Borrowing (Jan) came in worse than expected at £-7.8bln vs. £-6.3bln, which is also down from £14bln previously.

The Euro gained against the pound, but declined slightly against the US Dollar in the currency exchange market yesterday. The EUR/USD exchange opened up at 1.3274 to trade down to the day low of 1.3199 before closing out at 1.3255 by the European market close. Yesterday we saw Euro-zone Consumer Confidence (Feb) came in just off expectations at -20.2 vs. -20.1; but overall the figure was still better from the previous month of -20.7.

This morning we have seen a fair bit of economic data from the Euro-zone; with French PMI Manufacturing coming in better than expected at 50.2 vs. 49.0 and the French CPI coming in line with expectations at 2.6% vs. Exp. 2.8%. German PMI Manufacturing and Services both came in slightly lower, with Manufacturing coming in at 50.1 vs. 51.5 and PMI Services coming in short at 52.6 vs. 53.9 expected by economists.

Today we will look out for the 10:00 GMT Euro-zone Industrial New Orders expected at -2.8%.
The US Dollar gained against the Pound and against Euro currencies yesterday. There was Economic data from the US yesterday with Chicago Fed Nat Activity Index (Jan) came in slightly better than expected at 0.22 vs. 0.21.

Today we will look out for the US Existing Home Sales (Jan) due at 15:00 GMT, which is expected to increase from $4.61m to $4.65m.

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

Foreign Exchange Daily Market Update 21/02/12

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The Pound finished slightly lower against the US Dollar and declined against the Euro in the foreign exchange market yesterday. The GBP/EUR exchange rate picked up from 1.2009 at the morning’s open to trade down to the days low of 1.1949, before trading back down to 1.1960 by the close of the UK business day. The GBP/USD exchange rate traded in a tight range yesterday, with the pair opening up from 1.5852 finished the day lower at 1.5849 by the European market close. The Pound also finished lower against the New Zealand Dollar and the Australian Dollar in the foreign exchange market. The GBP/NZD exchange rate picked up from 1.8882 at the morning’s open to trade down to 1.8856 by the close of the UK business day. The GBP/AUD exchange rate opened up from 1.4740 and finished the session lower at 1.4724.

Yesterday we had no significant data from the UK, although today we will look out for UK Public Sector Borrowing due at 9:30 GMT.

The Euro gained against the pound and the US Dollar in the currency exchange market yesterday. The EUR/USD exchange opened up at 1.3197 to trade up to the day high of 1.3276 before closing out at 1.3248 by the European market close. Yesterday we saw further developments in regards to the Greek bailout fund and fairly good data from the Euro-zone, with French Production outlook Indicator increased from -36 to -27 and Italian Industrial Orders month-on-month came in much better than expected at 5.5% vs 0.4% expected by economists.

This morning from the Euro-zone we will look out for the bond auction from the EFSF due at 11:00 GMT and the Consumer Confidence for the month of February 15:00 GMT.

The US Dollar gained slightly against the Pound and declined against Euro currencies yesterday. There was no Economic data from the US yesterday due to a Presidents day holiday in the US. However today we will look out for the US Chicago Nat Activity Index (Jan) expected to increase from 0.17 to 0.22.

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

Foreign Exchange Daily Market Update 20/02/12

The Pound closed out last week having made a slight loss against the US Dollar and gained against the Euro in the foreign exchange market. The GBP/EUR exchange rate moved up from Monday’s open at 1.1909, to close the week up at 1.2023. The pair fluctuated in a range of 1.2079 weeks high to 1.1897 being the low across the week. The GBP/USD exchange rate declined slightly across the course of the week, starting from Monday’s open at 1.5818 the pair traded to a week low of 1.5643 before finishing the week back around the 1.5813 level.

The Pound also finished higher against the New Zealand Dollar and the Australian Dollar in the foreign exchange market last week. The GBP/NZD exchange rate picked up from 1.8885, to trade higher around 1.8984 by the close of the week. The GBP/AUD exchange rate opened up from 1.4683 and finished the week higher at 1.4785.

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 at 09:30 GMT, with UK Public Sector Net Borrowing (Jan) expected to decrease from £13.7bln to £-6.3bln. On Wednesday we have Bank of England Minutes due at 09:30 GMT and to finish the week we have the UK GDP figures also due at 09:30 GMT on Friday.

The Euro gained across the board throughout last week in the currency exchange market. The EUR/USD rate picked up from 1.3279 at Monday’s open, to trade down to a week low of 1.2974 before coming back to 1.3150 by the close of the European trading session on Friday.

The main market focus for the week ahead in Europe will be at 15:00 GMT on Tuesday with the release of Euro-zone Consumer Confidence expected at -20.1 up slightly from -20.7. On Wednesday we will see French CPI, PMI Manufacturing and PMI Services to be released by 08:00 GMT, followed by German PMI at 08:30 GMT and Euro-zone PMI at 09:00 GMT. We will also keep an eye on Euro-zone Industrial New Orders due at 10:00 GMT which is expected to decline slightly from -2.7% to -2.8% year-on-year. To end the week we will look out for German GDP figures due at 07:00 GMT on Friday.

This morning we have seen French Production Outlook come in better than expected at -27 vs. -36 expected by economists. Italian Industrial Orders also came in better than expected at 09:00GMT with the month-on-month figure coming in at 5.5% vs. the expected 0.4% and 0.2% from the prior month. There is no other scheduled data release from the Euro-Zone today. So focus will be left on the development of the Greek bailout fund.

The US Dollar gained against the Euro, but managed to gain slightly against pound last week in the currency markets. This week’s key events to look out for will be on Tuesday with Chicago Fed Nat Activity index (Jan) expected to increase from 0.17 to 0.22 by economists. Later in the week we have US Existing Home Sales on Wednesday at 15:00 GMT, followed by the US House Price Index due on Thursday at 15:00GMT. To finish the week we will look out for the University of Michigan Confidence (Feb) which is expected to increase slightly from 72.5 to 72.8.

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