February 2013 News Archive

Despite uncertainty over the Eurozone’s coronavirus outlook, the Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate has been trending higher again this week. Whether or not the pair sustains a strong advance depends on upcoming Eurozone and US data however. Since markets opened this week, EUR/USD has been trending with an upside bias. EUR/USD...

The British Pound to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate continues to go from strength to strength, despite some strong US data today. Optimism around Britain’s potential for recovery from the coronavirus pandemic continues to dominate the pair. At the beginning of the week, GBP/USD trended in the region of 1.3843 but spent the week...

Despite the Pound tumbling against most major currencies today, the British Pound to Japanese Yen (GBP/JPY) exchange rate continued to climb. While the pair has struggled to hold its best levels, investors are selling safe haven currencies like the Japanese Yen due to coronavirus developments and this is making it easier for the pair to avoid...

Uncertainty ahead of a key week for Eurozone news and European politics weighed on the Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate on Monday, preventing the pair from sustaining any gains. The US Dollar saw steady demand despite market anxiety ahead of a testimony from Fed Chair Powell on Wednesday. Due to a stronger US Dollar, last week saw...

A surprise rise in Britain’s key unemployment rate caused the British Pound to US Dollar exchange rate to fall to a weekly low on Wednesday, but hints of hawkishness from Bank of England (BoE) policymakers in the afternoon helped the pair recover towards the end of the day. Last week saw GBP/USD surge from 1.3827 to 1.4027 and even...

Pound (GBP) Exchange Rates Tumble on Disappointing IHS Markit Household Finance Index The Pound US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate began the week on the back-foot, tumbling as markets responded to a gloomy IHS Markit report on UK household finances and last week’s run of optimism for the ‘Greenback’ on strong US data. The data...

Despite some unexpectedly high US inflation data on Wednesday, the Euro to US Dollar exchange rate only saw a brief dip before trending near its daily highs towards the end of the European session. The Euro was supported by strong Eurozone growth data throughout the day. Since opening the week at the level of 1.2253, EUR/USD has spent...

The GBP/USD exchange rate is trending higher today, following the release of the UK’s latest inflation figures. <h2>Pound (GBP) Bolstered by Upbeat GDP Figures</h2> The Pound initially soared against the US Dollar on Tuesday as the UK published its latest Consumer Price Index. According to the data published by the...

Brief Government Shutdown Triggers US Dollar to South African Rand Exchange Rate Decline The US Dollar has fallen against the South African Rand and additionally made losses against the New Zealand Dollar and Australian Dollar today. This poor performance comes after the news that the US government was briefly shut down, due to an...

A lack of supportive factors in Sterling trade this week has left the British Pound to New Zealand Dollar exchange rate in free fall, as the New Zealand Dollar benefits from NZ data and market anticipation for the upcoming Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) policy decision. Market anticipation for the Bank of England (BoE) just isn’t...

Anticipation for Thursday’s key Bank of England (BoE) policy decision has been unable to keep the British Pound to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate buoyant so far this week, as UK data weighs on Sterling while the US Dollar recovers from its recent lows. Despite being bolstered by Bank of England speculation last week, GBP/USD was...

Pound to Australian Dollar Exchange Rate Rallies on Higher Hopes for BoE Policy Tightening The Pound has been in high demand today, rising sharply against the Australian Dollar as well as the South African Rand and Indian Rupee. This GBP/AUD advance has been caused by rising optimism that a Bank of England (BoE) interest rate hike could...

GBP JPY Exchange Rate Slumps on ‘IndyRef2’, Further Damage ahead on Confidence and PMI Scores The Pound has dropped by -0.2% against the Japanese Yen today, mainly due to fears that triggering Brexit will also bring the threat of another Scottish independence referendum. This has long been a background issue of the EU Referendum...

Pound to US Dollar Advance Comes as Lords Near First Article 50 Amendment The Pound US Dollar exchange rate has risen by 0.7% today, at a turbulent time in UK politics. The House of Lords is busy debating the Article 50 bill, which previously passed through the House of Commons without amendment. This may all be set to change in the...

The Pound (GBP) to South African Rand (ZAR) exchange rate rallied on Tuesday as the UK’s Public Sector Borrowing figures showed that Britain’s January surplus reached a 17 year high. Sterling Strengthened by Borrowing Figures The Pound rocketed higher today as rising tax revenues caused the Britain’s budget surplus to hit its...

The Pound Australian Dollar exchange rate has been largely negative this week, with a day-long deterioration being seen after the morning’s January inflation rate stats. These showed a rise in annual inflation from 1.6% to 1.8%, although investors soon turned away from Sterling as inflation had been forecast to hit 1.9%. Economists...

Pound Sterling to Euro Demand Climbs at Crucial Moment in Brexit Process On the eve of the Parliamentary recess, the House of Commons voted in approval of the Article 50 bill, which is required for the Government to trigger Article 50 itself and start the process of leaving the EU. This occurred with a clear majority and also saw no...

The Pound (GBP) to South African Rand (ZAR) exchange rate fluctuated today as investors reacted to a downbeat UK business survey. Sterling Softened by Brexit Business Fears The Pound was weakened today by the release of a survey from Ipsos MORI that reported that 58% of companies are already being hurt by the UK’s vote to leave the...

Disappointing Swiss Industrial Production has prompted the Swiss Franc (CHF) to weaken, while the Euro (EUR) has strengthened on the back of improved German consumer confidence. Euro Exchange Rate Trends Higher as German Consumer Confidence Improves While traders have remained somewhat wary of the Euro (EUR) this week the single...

Pound Sterling (GBP) The mood towards the Pound has remained rather muted today as the ‘Brexit’ debate intensifies, with Justice Secretary Michael Gove calling into question the legally binding nature of proposed reforms to the UK’s relationship with the EU. As Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney yesterday failed to rule out...

<h2>UK Currency may Rise Again This Week after Friday’s Borrowing Stats Come In</h2> Pound Sterling has progressively worsened against the South African Rand over the course of this week; Sterling initially began on a high of 23.0462 that came from a rise from 6.5% to 7.2% for the UK’s Rightmove house prices on the year in...

Although a rally in global stock markets had shored up the New Zealand Dollar (NZD) the commodity-correlated currency has since weakened across the board as traders await the results of the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction. Reduced Safe-Haven Demand Boosted NZD/USD Exchange Rate Markets and commodity-correlated currencies such as the New...

As global markets begin to recover from the latest rout the Japanese Yen (JPY) has lost some of its bullishness, while the Pound Sterling (GBP) has recovered somewhat on the back of improved construction data. Japanese Yen Strengthened by Safe-Haven Demand as Market Rout Continued Stock market volatility has seen investors flocking back...

The US Dollar strengthened across the board during the North American session, registering 1.4% gain against the Euro, an over 0.7% gain against the Pound and a 0.5% advance against the Swiss Franc. The ‘Greenback’ was also bullish against the Canadian and Australian Dollars. After declining this week as a result of slightly dovish...

A number of factors pushed the Australian Dollar higher against peers like the Pound and US Dollar yesterday. Firstly, demand for the commodity-driven currency increased after Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen did little to encourage speculation that the central bank will be increasing interest rates in the summer (as was initially...

The US Dollar remained trading around the day’s opening levels against the Euro, Indian Rupee and British Pound on Tuesday as investors responded to mixed economic reports from the world’s largest economy and unrevealing comments from the Federal Reserve’s Chairwoman. The ‘Greenback’ began the day in a slightly stronger position as...

At the close of last week higher-risk currencies like the New Zealand Dollar gained as the Greek request for a four-month extension of its current bailout programme reduced the odds of a ‘Grexit’ occurring in the near future. The ‘Kiwi’ was also supported against several of its most-traded currency counterparts as economic data for...

As the week drew to a close, the Russian Ruble was in line to record its most impressive run of 5-day advances against the US Dollar for nine months. The tentative ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine and climbing oil prices lent the Russian currency support, so the Ruble was able to advance to 61.884 against the US Dollar. Oil prices rose to...

The Pound enjoyed a bullish relationship with the majority of its currency counterparts during Wednesday’s European session as investors considered the possible repercussions of the UK’s better-than-expected employment report. The over 100,000 increase in positions in the three months through December took the level of employment in the...

After trending on the backfoot since the Reserve Bank of Australia took the unexpected step of cutting interest rates at its February policy meeting, the Australian Dollar was able to recoup some of its recent losses during the local session. The Australian Dollar to Euro exchange rate edged up to 0.6852 while the AUD/USD pairing surged by...

The New Zealand Dollar (NZD) had a buoyant trading session overnight, with the ‘Kiwi’ advancing on the majority of its currency counterparts. The NZD/GBP currency pairing climbed by over 1.0% to trade in the region of 0.4885, the NZD/USD exchange rate rose by 0.8% to trade in the region of 0.7516 and the NZD/EUR pair advanced by 0.5%....

A number of factors helped the Canadian Dollar advance by over 0.5% against the US Dollar during the local session. The commodity-driven currency had previously softened as a result of comments issued by a Bank of Canada official. The central bank’s deputy governor implied that the BOC might cut borrowing costs further as a result of slack...

Prior to the release of the Bank of England’s highly-anticipated quarterly inflation report, the Australian Dollar was trading in the region of a five-year low against the Pound. Sterling had previously been bolstered by positive UK Manufacturing Production and UK growth figures and retained the upper hand even as Australia released some...

The South African Rand extended declines against the US Dollar on Monday after sliding against the US currency at the end of last week as a result of the impressive US Non-Farm Payrolls report. The emerging-market currency dropped to 11.4988 against the US Dollar after the US economy was shown to have added considerably more positions than...

The Norwegian Krone advanced against the Euro at the close of the week despite a mixed bag of reports for Norway. The NOK/EUR exchange rate achieved an almost two-month high as oil prices increased and ‘Grexit’ concerns rose. The Euro to Norwegian Krone exchange rate was trading in the region of 8.5780 having fallen from a high of 8.6415....

The New Zealand Dollar has experienced considerable volatility this week, posting notable declines following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s interest rate decision but then recouping losses following a successful dairy auction. After the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) opted to cut its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to a new record low...

The US Dollar to Indian Rupee currency pair advanced by 0.2% during the North American session as the US published positive domestic data. The USD/INR exchange rate achieved a high of 61.8900 during local trading as the Rupee snapped two days of gains in spite of India’s services PMI showing improvement. The nation’s services index...

The Australian Dollar posted extensive, broad-based declines off the back of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision to cut the benchmark interest rate. The RBA has maintained a policy of steady interest rates since 2013 but felt that with the current inflationary climate and recent declines in the price of crude oil, borrowing costs...

The Russian Ruble dropped against peers like the US Dollar on Monday as Russia’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index fell to its lowest level for five and a half years. The gauge of the manufacturing sector dropped from the 48.9 recorded in December to 47.6 in January, falling further below the 50 mark separating growth from contraction...

The pound continued its recovery against the euro yesterday after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported in its second reading of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the fourth and last quarter of 2013 for the UK a figure of 0.7% in line with analysts’ expectations. The ONS also confirmed that over the last 12 months, the UK...

Ahead of the key piece of UK economic data out this week when the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reports its second reading of the UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the fourth and last quarter of 2013, the pound recovered some of yesterday’s losses against the majority of its key currency pairs. The Bank of England have been...

Worldwide risk appetite seems to be making something of a comeback with the main FTSE100 index in London closing at its second highest ever figure following decent corporate data and the news out of the latest G20 meeting in Australia. In the currency markets, the pound continues to slide away from the multi-month and year high’s seen...

The pound fell for the third day in a row against the euro after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a surprise increase in the UK unemployment rate by 0.1% to 7.2% in the three months ended in December although the number of people classed as unemployed slipped by 125,000 to 2.34 million. The minutes of the last Bank of...

The pound lost ground for a second day in a row against the euro after the latest inflation data was published in the UK. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) fell to 1.9% in January, the first time that the CPI measure of inflation has been below the Bank of England’s target rate of 2%...

The pound remains at its highest level against the US dollar since November 2009 on an otherwise quiet start to the trading week with the US markets closed for the Presidents Day holiday. In the UK, property website Rightmove reported that UK house prices rose in February as demand continues to outpace supply with the average asking price...

The pound climbed to close within a whisker from a 3 year high against the US dollar yesterday as markets digested the improved outlook for the UK economy as featured in the latest Bank of England (BoE) forecast published on Wednesday. The pound has now risen more than 13% against the dollar since July 2013 as the markets factor in the...

The pound rallied against the euro and US dollar in particular yesterday following the release of the latest Bank of England quarterly inflation report which was highlighted by the BoE lifting its growth forecasts for the UK economy. The BoE also signalled that an interest rate hike could be in store at some point in 2015. Even the mere...

Risk appetite made something of a comeback in the markets yesterday with the Australian and New Zealand dollars and South African Rand all registering strong gains on the day’s trading whilst the US dollar, a traditional safe haven currency asset lost ground, particularly after the first testimony from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen to...

The pound started the week where it left off last week, by falling against the majority of the 16 most actively traded currencies in the market. Economic data from the UK continues to much of a mixed-bag with all eyes on the Bank of England’s latest quarterly inflation report due out tomorrow when Governor Mark Carney could set out an...

Ahead of the latest policy announcements from both the Bank of England (BoE) and the European Central Bank (ECB), the pound continues to ease from the recent highs reached in January when we saw sterling hit a 6 year high against the South African Rand; a 4 year high against the Canadian and Australian dollars; a 2 year high against the US...

After suffering losses right across the board at the beginning of the trading month, the pound had more of a mixed day, making a small gain against the euro but losing heavily against the Australian dollar. Markit reported that UK residential construction grew at its fastest rate since 2003 with its Purchasing Managers´ Index (PMI) for...

The pound started a new month by falling against all 16 of the most actively traded currencies in the market yesterday. A combination of poor worldwide economic data, giving rise to fresh doubts over the world economic outlook and the turmoil in the so-called emerging markets looked to be the main factors behind the sharp sterling...

The pound remains under severe pressure in the markets on the back of the announcement late last week by credit ratings agency Moody’s that the UK has lost its Aaa credit rating by one notch to Aa1. This week has bought further bad news for the pound with the testimony on Tuesday to Parliament by senior Bank of England (BoE) policy-maker...

The dollar took centre stage yesterday as the markets swung back into ‘risk aversion’ following the inconclusive result to the Italian general elections. The dollar also benefited from comments by Federal Reserve Chief Ben Bernanke who assured markets that the central bank would keep its bond-buying programme in place. There had been...

A highly volatile start to the trading week saw the pound slump to its lowest level against the euro since August 2011 and to a 31 month low against the US dollar on the back of the news late on Friday night, after the markets had closed for the week that the credit ratings agency, Moody's Investors Service downgraded the government bond...

The pound fell heavily against all 16 of the most actively traded currencies in the market yesterday after the publication of the minutes of the last meeting of the Bank of England's (BOE) Monetary Policy Committee's (MPC) showed a distinct ‘dovish’ stance from the UK’s top economic policy making body. Whilst the nine members of the...

The pound fell against all 16 of the most actively traded currencies at the start of the trading week despite the lower trading volumes caused by the closure of the US markets for the Presidents Day public holiday. The catalyst for the latest falls seems to be the words of Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member Martin Weale who...

The pound fell to its lowest level since August 2012 against the dollar after the publication of the Bank of England’s quarterly inflation report by Governor Sir Mervyn King. King added that inflation in the UK is likely to stay above its 2% target until early 2016. He also conceded that output had been broadly flat for the last two...

The pound fell again yesterday against almost all of the 16 most actively traded currencies in the market as ongoing fears about the state and outlook for the UK economy weighed heavily on the currency. Data from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) published yesterday showed that the UK may have to borrow about £75 billion more...

The euro rose sharply against the pound and the dollar yesterday after comments from German Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann yesterday that in his opinion, the euro is not overvalued at current levels in a rebuff to comments last week by French President Francois Hollande for an exchange-rate mechanism to protect the single currency from...

A busy news day encompassing the monthly policy decision from both the Bank of England (BoE) and European Central Bank (ECB) and the first testimony from Bank of England Governor-designate Mark Carnet before the Treasury Select Committee saw the euro continue to come off its recent fifteen month high’s against both the pound and the...

After two relatively quiet days in the markets, today should see a return to volatility with a full agenda. The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee will issue its monthly policy decision at 12 noon today. Whilst the majority of analysts expect a ‘no change’ decision, there is just the possibility that with the weakness in the...

Yesterday saw a correction to the markets seemingly relentless rise in risk appetite since the turn of the year with big sell-offs in the world stock markets triggering a wave of risk aversion. The dollar was the main beneficiary, making substantial gains across the board. In the UK, the Markit/CIPS service sector index rose from 48.9 in...

The euro fell sharply yesterday for the first time this year after closing last week at a 14 month high against both the pound and the dollar. Fresh concerns about the political outlook in both Spain and Italy, respectively the third and fourth largest economies in the euro zone ‘pushed’ traders into taking profits and the euro ended...

The pound finished the month amidst quieter market conditions without any further losses as data showed that UK house prices rose by 0.5% to an average of £162,245 in January, versus the previous month, according to the latest data from the Nationwide. Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said “While activity in the housing...