December 2012 News Archive

The Pound Sterling Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate was volatile, as British voters took to the polls on Thursday, leaving the pairing trading around €1.1819. Over the course of the week, the Pound has been buoyed by Brexit optimism reaching a two-and-a-half-year high against the single currency. Overnight, GBP volatility increased to...

Despite its risk rally driven plummet at the beginning of the week, the British Pound to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate has seen a strong recovery since Tuesday evening. This was due to a combination of factors including soft Brexit hopes, weaker risk-sentiment and some disappointing Australian ecostats. After opening this week...

Despite the weekend’s global trade developments making investors much more willing to take risks, the Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate was not able to capitalise on the safe haven US Dollar’s fresh weakness. This was partially due to underwhelming Eurozone ecostats, weighing on market demand for the shared currency. Concerns...

Pound to Rand Exchange Rate Drops after Worrying UK Income Forecast The Pound has lost ground to the South African Rand today, falling by -1.4% in the pairing. This deterioration is mainly down to a strong Rand, although UK domestic data hasn’t helped in the situation. UK real incomes are expected to be flat in 2018, meaning that...

Pound Loses Ground to Stronger South African Rand despite Stable UK Orders The Pound has risen against most of its regular peers on Monday’s trading session, with the exception of the stronger South African Rand. This is no fault of GBP, as the Rand has instead been the stronger currency in the pairing. Elsewhere, GBP has...

UK Inflation Nears 6-Year High, Triggering GBP/NZD Exchange Rate Drop The Pound has lost ground to the New Zealand Dollar and most other peers today, following a surprising increase in UK inflation. The rise from 3% to 3.1% has put further pressure on the Bank of England (BoE) to adjust its monetary policy. BoE Governor Mark Carney...

Intensification of Brexit Talks Triggers GBP/USD Rate Fluctuations The Pound has been volatile against the US Dollar today, seeing gains for most of the day before dropping back and trading tightly in the pairing. The GBP/USD exchange rate initially rose because of Brexit optimism; at one point it was speculated that previously stalled...

Euro Jumps in Demand against GBP as Eurozone Confidence Stats Surprise Investors While the Eurozone consumer confidence flash for December was expected to improve regardless, the fact that it moved closer to a positive range than expected proved greatly beneficial to the Euro against the Pound. An advance to 0.84 in the pairing was...

Pound Sterling Demand Drops Off after Day of Inflation-Linked Profit-Taking The Pound US Dollar exchange rate has gradually degraded over the course of trading today, with a previously strong footing for the Pound eroding to the point of both currencies being flat against each other. Earlier optimism among GBP investors came from the...

Before the release of a run of influential US reports, the Yen softened for a fourth day against its US counterpart – making the current uptrend in the USD/JPY pairing the longest for a month. There was no Japanese data to counter the Yen’s losses overnight, and reduced demand for safe-haven assets pushed the Asian currency lower. In the...

The Pound Sterling to South African Rand (GBP/ZAR) exchange rate is trending within a tight range on Monday. This is as a result of a complete absence of data pertaining to both the UK and South Africa. Compounding the staticity is the extremely quiet currency market whilst traders relax over the festive holiday season. A slight Sterling...

China’s less-than-spectacular manufacturing PMI, coupled with falling commodity prices, fears of a global slowdown and mixed economic reports for the US, have seen the US Dollar to Japanese Yen exchange rate decline this week. The USD/JPY exchange rate fell to a four-week low on Tuesday as oil prices extended losses and the Russian Ruble...

The Norwegian Krone fell by around 1.35% against the Pound (NOK/GBP) and weakened to 9.0715 against the Euro (EUR/NOK) over the course of the European session. While the Pound came under pressure as a result of the decline in UK house price growth and the Euro was pressured by European Central Bank (ECB) stimulus speculation, the Krone posted...

The Pound advanced against the Rupee on Tuesday, climbing by over 0.3% over the course of the local session. Although Sterling came under pressure as a result of below-forecast UK industrial production and manufacturing production reports, the Rupee was broadly weaker as India’s current account deficit was shown to have widened to the most...

At the close of a fairly eventful week for the currency market, the Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate is trading in the region of 1.2365, down slightly on the Friday’s opening levels. Over the last five days the Euro to US Dollar exchange rate has moved between highs of 1.25 and lows of 1.23 as economists responded to mixed data...

A number of factors led to the Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar advancing on Wednesday. The pairing was able to climb by 0.7% over the course of trading as data from Australia caused concern and a services report from the UK renewed confidence in the nation’s economic recovery. The Australian Dollar fell against almost all of its most...

The US Dollar to Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate has been trading in the region of a nine-month high of late as commodity price fluctuations, local economic concerns and global developments have all taken a toll on the higher-risk Rupee. However, the Rupee managed to strengthen against the ‘Greenback’ on Tuesday, with the USD/INR...

The Pound is on course to make a second consecutive year of gains against the US Dollar and is holding at a two-year high after data showed that UK house prices climbed for an 11th consecutive month in December. Due to thin trading volumes as a result of many traders closing their books ahead of the end of the year liquidity in the...

The Pound managed to climb to its strongest level in over two-years against the US Dollar as speculation grows that the UK economy will become one of the strongest Western economies over the next few years. The Pound received support as optimism continues to be high for the economy and as the Centre for Economic and Business Research...

Last week’s encouraging UK employment and retail sales figures boosted the Pound against its peers and helped the currency rally against rivals like the US Dollar and Euro. But Sterling stumbled on Friday as although growth data impressed, public finance figures were found wanting. However, over the weekend the Pound found its...

Earlier this week the Pound was riding high as impressive UK employment data and rising domestic retail sales added to the brightening picture of the UK's economic recovery. Sterling posted notable gains against peers like the Euro and was in a stronger position against the US Dollar despite the North American asset turning bullish...

The pound soared yesterday against all 16 of the most actively traded currencies yesterday after much stronger than expected data underlined the economic recovery underway in the UK. Firstly, The Office for National Statistics reported that UK unemployment declined by a much sharper level than had been expected in the 3 months to October...

The pound continues to slowly give up some of its recent gains. Yesterday, data showed that the UK inflation rate fell unexpectedly from a figure of 2.2% in October to a four-year low of 2.1% in November, ever closer to the Bank of England’s target. An analysis of the data showed that the drop in the rate of consumer inflation was driven...

The pound, despite some decent economic data out of the UK and some poor data from the euro zone continues to ebb away from the multi-month highs seen recently. Twice in the last week, the Bank of England (BoE) have warned against the dangers of the pound appreciating too much in value in case this harms the UK export drive and derails...

The pound soared against the Australian dollar yesterday after the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) upgraded its forecast for UK economic growth in 2014, saying it will bounce back from the "deepest recession in modern times". The BCC predict that in the second half of 2014 the UK economy will finally surpass its pre-recession...

The US dollar was the main beneficiary of yesterday’s trading session as the bi-partisan deal struck between Democrats and Republicans on the US Federal budget increased speculation that the Federal Reserve may start to taper its $85 billion a month quantitative easing program as early as next week when they meet to discuss their latest...

The pound continued to slip from recent high’s yesterday despite some decent economic data that continue to paint the picture of a sustained economic recovery in the UK. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) reported yesterday that economic activity in the UK expanded at a rate of 0.8% in the three months to...

The pound gave up some of its recent gains against the euro at the end of the trading week last week after the European Central Bank upgraded the growth prospects for the single currency in 2014. In a quiet news day yesterday, it found some support on the news from the Halifax that UK house prices rose by 1.1% in November and were up by...

The pound fell yesterday against the majority of the 16 most actively traded currencies despite the announcement from the Bank of England (BoE) yesterday that it is maintaining the benchmark interest rate at 0.5% and its asset purchase programme, currently at £375 billion unchanged for at least another month. The decision was widely expected...

The currency markets were more subdued yesterday as the markets await the latest policy decisions from both the Bank of England (BoE) and European Central Bank (ECB) later on today. In the UK, the latest Markit/CIPS report showed that the UK service sector activity continued to expand in November with new business accelerating at a rapid...

The pound reaches a new high point against a number of currencies, reaching a level against the Australian dollar not seen since December 2009 and a high point against the South African Rand since October 2008. The impetus for the latest move was better than expected UK construction data together with a rise in risk aversion in the...

The pound had a mixed day at the start of the new trading month, hitting fresh highs against the euro, US and Canadian dollars but lost ground against the Aussie and Kiwi dollars on the back of an increase in risk appetite following better than expected Chinese manufacturing data. In a slow news day in the UK, property website Hometrack...

The so called US ‘fiscal cliff’ remains centre stage, driving the dollar down to multi month lows against a variety of currencies as speculation that a deal in Washington is imminent continues to boost risk sentiment and hurts safe haven flows. The almost hourly updates seem to suggest that the fine detail is being worked on, albeit...

A quiet start to the trading week saw the pound fall against the euro but the biggest movement was on the US dollar where apparent progress between President Obama and the Republicans to avert the so-called ‘fiscal cliff’ continues to improve risk sentiment thus hurting safe haven flows into the dollar. The only bright spot for the...

The euro is coming under renewed pressure at the start of this trading week after the announcement by Italy’s technocrat Prime Minister Mario Monti that he intends to resign from his post after the Italian parliament passes his budget bill in a debate scheduled for 18 December. Monti explained his decision based on constant criticism from...

In a week dominated by multiple central bank policy meetings, the pound benefited from the pronouncement by Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank (ECB) of a severe downgrading of the growth prospects of the euro zone economy but added that the possibility of a move towards a negative deposit rate had been discussed. The euro...

The pound reacted positively to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, recouping some recent losses against the euro yesterday afternoon. Nick Beecroft, Chairman and Senior Market Analyst at Saxo Capital Markets stated “As predicted, whilst in many ways innovative, striking a careful balance between fiscal probity and growth promotion, and...

The Pound Sterling fell against the majority of the 16 most actively traded currencies yesterday as further bad data continues to hit confidence in the UK economy ahead of today’s Autumn statement from the Chancellor. Markit reported yesterday that UK construction firms are reporting their lowest confidence levels in over four years with...

This week sees central bank interest rate announcements from Australia, Canada, the UK and Europe along with the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement in the UK on Wednesday and key unemployment data out of the US on Friday. Yesterday was dominated by the ongoing saga’s around Greece and the so called ‘fiscal cliff’ in the US. With...