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Pound hits new Dollar high at quarter end
Published: 1 Jul at 10 AM Tags: Pound Sterling, Euro Exchange Rate, Dollar Exchange Rate, Australian Dollar Exchange Rate, Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate, Euro Crisis, UK, Economy,
The second quarter of 2014 finished with the Pound its highest level against the US Dollar since October 2008 on another day of mixed economic data.
The GfK UK consumer confidence index showed that UK consumers are at their most optimistic since March 2005 in their latest survey, raising hopes for further solid economic growth in the UK for the second half of the year.
Nick Moon, Managing Director of Social Research at GfK, said "The last time the index was consistently positive was back in 2002 and this must be the next 'target' from the government's point of view as we get close to the election period."
By contrast, the latest mortgage data from the Bank of England (BoE) showed that the UK housing market slowed again last month amid further signs that the most recent clampdown on lending, introduced in April is working.
The data showed that UK mortgage approvals fell from 62,806 in May to 61,707 in May, their lowest level since June 2013.
Overall mortgage lending still rose by a stronger-than-expected £1.99 billion in May, its biggest increase since July 2008, and at an annual rate of 1.7% in the three months to May, the fastest since September 2008.
The data also shows that UK house prices rose by 10% in the past year with prices in London rising at almost double that rate.
Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight said "While a welcome development, it remains to be seen if May's marked increase in lending to businesses is the start of an improving trend. There have been false dawns before."
The outgoing Deputy Governor of the BoE Sir Charlie Bean in one of his last interviews suggested that UK interest rates are likely to hit 5% within a decade, in line with pre-recession levels in the long term, that is between five and 10 years.
Meanwhile, in the euro zone, Eurostat reported yesterday that the latest euro zone consumer price index (CPI) advanced at 0.5% in the year to June 2014, in line with analysts’ expectations ahead of the next European Central Bank (ECB) policy announcement due on Thursday.
Overnight, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept interest rates on hold for the 11th month in a row at its historic low rate of 2.5% whilst it waits for further signs of the re-balancing of the Australian economy away from its dependence on the commodities sector.
However, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens warned the high level of the Australian dollar was not helping the re-balancing.
The RBA noted some improvement in labour market indicators but warned that it would probably be some time before unemployment falls on a consistent level.
Since its last meeting in June, data has shown that Australia’s annual economic growth rate has increased above 3% while the unemployment rate has stayed flat at 5.8% for the third month in a row.
The GfK UK consumer confidence index showed that UK consumers are at their most optimistic since March 2005 in their latest survey, raising hopes for further solid economic growth in the UK for the second half of the year.
Nick Moon, Managing Director of Social Research at GfK, said "The last time the index was consistently positive was back in 2002 and this must be the next 'target' from the government's point of view as we get close to the election period."
By contrast, the latest mortgage data from the Bank of England (BoE) showed that the UK housing market slowed again last month amid further signs that the most recent clampdown on lending, introduced in April is working.
The data showed that UK mortgage approvals fell from 62,806 in May to 61,707 in May, their lowest level since June 2013.
Overall mortgage lending still rose by a stronger-than-expected £1.99 billion in May, its biggest increase since July 2008, and at an annual rate of 1.7% in the three months to May, the fastest since September 2008.
The data also shows that UK house prices rose by 10% in the past year with prices in London rising at almost double that rate.
Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight said "While a welcome development, it remains to be seen if May's marked increase in lending to businesses is the start of an improving trend. There have been false dawns before."
The outgoing Deputy Governor of the BoE Sir Charlie Bean in one of his last interviews suggested that UK interest rates are likely to hit 5% within a decade, in line with pre-recession levels in the long term, that is between five and 10 years.
Meanwhile, in the euro zone, Eurostat reported yesterday that the latest euro zone consumer price index (CPI) advanced at 0.5% in the year to June 2014, in line with analysts’ expectations ahead of the next European Central Bank (ECB) policy announcement due on Thursday.
Overnight, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept interest rates on hold for the 11th month in a row at its historic low rate of 2.5% whilst it waits for further signs of the re-balancing of the Australian economy away from its dependence on the commodities sector.
However, RBA Governor Glenn Stevens warned the high level of the Australian dollar was not helping the re-balancing.
The RBA noted some improvement in labour market indicators but warned that it would probably be some time before unemployment falls on a consistent level.
Since its last meeting in June, data has shown that Australia’s annual economic growth rate has increased above 3% while the unemployment rate has stayed flat at 5.8% for the third month in a row.
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Source: moneytransfer.co.uk