Last week we saw the Pound lose ground overall against the Euro and the US Dollar in the foreign exchange market. The GBPEUR rate opened the week at 1.2355 and peaked Tuesday afternoon to a weekly high of 1.2406 but slipped across the second half of the week, hitting a weekly low of 1.2296 an hour before it closed the week out at 1.2406 on Friday. The GBPUSD rate did not see much overall change across the week, opening at 1.6027 and closing it out at 1.6026 however we saw it hit a weekly low of 1.5962 on Wednesday afternoon and peak to 1.6060 when the markets opened Friday morning.
The main news out of the UK last week was that of the new Governor of the Bank of England being announced as current Bank of Canada Governor, Mark Carney. It came as a surprise to the markets but many analysts believe that it is a safe choice due to the fact that Canada has not faced a banking crisis like the UK has. Earlier in the week the revised GDP figure was released and stayed at 1.0%. On Thursday the Financial Stability Report was released followed by a conference held by Mervyn King who announced that may need more capital to be used as protection against possible future losses.
This week PMI results are set to be released in the sectors, Manufacturing, Construction and Services. Thursday will see the Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) decide on whether or not to keep the base rate and asset purchase programme the same. Both are set to stay as they are although many believe that the asset purchase programme may be increased soon from £375B.
The Euro gained against both the Pound and the US Dollar during last week’s market session with the EURUSD rate opening at 1.2972 and closing the week out at 1.3009. On Wednesday afternoon it hit a weekly low of 1.2880 and peaked at the open of trade on Friday at 1.3020. Last week we saw German CPI (inflation) come out at -0.1%, in line with predictions. Euro-zone unemployment rate was also released on Friday and came out as expected at 11.7%. This week we will see Spanish unemployment change be released on Tuesday. The previous result was the highest since February, 128.2K showing how much the financial crisis across the Euro-zone has affected the labour market. On Thursday the ECB will meet to decide on the base rate which is expected to remain at 0.75%.
The US Dollar weakened against both the Pound and the Euro during last week’s foreign exchange market session. US preliminary GDP was released last week, coming out higher than last year but lower than expected, at 2.7% showing an expansion in the US economy. Consumer confidence came out on Tuesday at 73.7, higher than the 73.1 predicted. Today manufacturing PMI will be released and is set to fall from 51.7 to 51.5. It is a big week for the labour market as non-farm unemployment change and the unemployment rate will be released later this week. Non-farm unemployment change is set to fall from 158K to 141K and the unemployment rate is set to stay at 7.9% on Friday.
This Daily Market Update is brought to you by The Market Team @ KBRFX – Exchange Rate, Currency Conversion & Foreign Currency Transfer specialists.
During yesterday’s foreign exchange market session the Pound lost ground against the Euro and the US Dollar. The GBPEUR rate opened at 1.2387 and moved to a daily high of 1.2403 early morning before closing the day out at 1.2378. The GBPUSD rate opened the day at 1.6008 and quickly hit a daily high of 1.6018 an hour after the open. It then proceeded to fall during the morning before it hit a daily low of 1.5962 just after lunch, closing the day out at 1.5996. Yesterday we saw no data be released from the UK but today the Bank of England will release their Financial Stability Report which assesses the overall stability of the financial sector at the time of publishing. We may see a significant movement in the GBP against other currencies as analysts will be looking for clues as to future monetary policies. Once the report has been published the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King will hold a conference to discuss the topics covered, however we may see the main topic of conversation be about the announcement of Mark Carney as the new Governor, taking over from King next year.
The Euro saw gains against the GBP but overall it remained unchanged against the US Dollar yesterday. The EURUSD rate opened at 1.2923 before shooting up to a daily high of 1.2938 minutes after the open of the European market. It then slipped throughout the rest of the day, hitting a daily low of 1.2880 mid-afternoon before closing the day out again at 1.2923. The main news from the Euro-zone yesterday was that of German CPI (inflation) being released which came out in line with predictions at 1.9%, the same result as what came out for November 2011, showing no change in the price of living in Germany. Today German unemployment change has already been released which was expected to come out at 16K however it was much lower than predicted, coming out at 5K, some positive news for the German labour market.
Yesterday the US Dollar gained some strength against the Pound and remained unchanged overall against the Euro in the foreign exchange market. The only significant data coming out of the US yesterday were new homes sales which were lower than expected, 368K compared to the 387K that analysts predicted. Later today US GDP will be released with the figure set to rise from 2.0% to 2.8% the highest result since February. Unemployment claims are also set to be released later with the figure set to fall from 410K to 404K; if both these results are as expected we may see the US Dollar gain strength against the Pound so it could possibly be a good day for selling Dollars.
This Daily Market Update is brought to you by The Market Team @ KBRFX – Exchange Rate, Currency Conversion & Foreign Currency Transfer specialists.
The Pound saw losses against the Euro and the US Dollar in the foreign exchange market yesterday. The GBPEUR rate opened the day at 1.2355 but moved to a daily high of 1.2362 an hour after the open; it fluctuated throughout the day, dropping to a daily low of 1.2331 before closing the day out at 1.2350. The GBPUSD rate opened at 1.6027, hitting a daily high of 1.6034 mid-morning, before falling to 1.5996 in the afternoon and closing out the day at 1.6013. There was no data released form the UK yesterday but there was some big news as the new Governor of the Bank of England was announced. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, announced that the new Governor will be Canadian, Mark Carney who is currently Governor of the Bank of Canada and Chairman of the Financial Stability Board. Many analysts believe it is a sound choice as he has experience as a central banker and Canada has had no big banking crisis like the UK has. Today has already seen the UK GDP revised figure come out at 1.0%, so no change.
The Euro saw gains versus the Pound but losses against the US Dollar during yesterday’s market session. The EURUSD rate opened the day at 1.2972 and dropped to a daily low shortly after to reach 1.2947; it then quickly peaked up to 1.2981 before lunch before it closed the day out at 1.2966. The major news from the Euro-zone yesterday was the Euro-group meeting where for the third time this month leaders have tried to clear an aid payment to Greece. There will be no data from the Euro-zone today.
Yesterday we saw the US Dollar gain against the Pound and the Euro in the foreign exchange market even though there was no data released from the US. Today will see durable goods orders for October be released with the figure set to fall by 1.0%. This is much lower than the previous figure of 9.9% for September showing a lower amount of confidence in the US market however Consumer Confidence will also be released and is set to rise from 72.2 to 73.0.
This Daily Market Update is brought to you by The Market Team @ KBRFX – Exchange Rate, Currency Conversion & Foreign Currency Transfer specialists.
