May 2013 News Archive

The Pound New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate fell by -0.2% despite the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) hawkish bias this week by forecasting a possible rate hike next year. The pairing is currently trading around NZ$1.93. The New Zealand Dollar’s gains against the Pound – which shot up by 1% yesterday – proved to be...

The Pound Euro exchange rate fell by -0.2% today as the Indian variant of Covid-19 has weakened confidence in the UK’s ability to recover its economy in the months ahead. The pairing is currently fluctuating around €1.15. Sterling traders have become increasingly jittery over the prospect of a delay in the Government’s efforts to...

The Pound Japanese Yen exchange rate fell by -0.2% today despite growing confidence in the UK economy after GDP data for March rose by 2.1%. The pairing is trading around ¥153.79 at the time of writing. Sterling benefited yesterday as the latest UK growth data highlighted that the nation’s economy had improved from the Government’s...

The Pound Euro exchange rate fell by -0.3% today after the single currency received a boost from encouraging Eurozone economic data. Today saw the Eurozone’s latest retail sales report for March beat forecasts and rise by 12% month-on-month. This has left the pairing currently trading around €1.15 at the time of writing. Today also saw...

The Euro to Australian Dollar (EUR/AUD) exchange rate’s rally has lasted for almost a full month now, and the pair is looking on track to sustain another strong set of gains this week unless tomorrow’s highly anticipated Australian job market report beats market expectations. Following last week’s climb from 1.5975 to 1.6050, EUR/AUD...

Even though the Federal Reserve has taken a more hawkish than expected tone on the US economic outlook and some key US data has beaten expectations, the British Pound to US Dollar exchange rate’s losses on Friday were limited. Weakness in market risk-sentiment kept investors hesitant to buy the US Dollar too much. After opening this week...

Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) Exchange Rate Rally Triggered by Historic Low for German Jobless Rate Today’s Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate rise represents a recovery for the single currency; looking further back the pairing is still near a 10-month low. The Euro has recently been supported by a range of Eurozone confidence...

Pound to Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD) Exchange Rate Rises as Retail Sales Stats Beat Forecasts The Pound to Canadian Dollar exchange rate (GBP/CAD) dipped on Wednesday’s trading session, but has since risen by 0.5% thanks to UK retail sales data for April. The readings have shown levels of sales rise by more than expected during April,...

Fading Hopes for UK Customs Union Membership Trigger Pound to US Dollar (GBP/USD) Exchange Rate Decline Today has been relatively quiet in terms of UK economic data, so the Pound to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate has instead been affected by Brexit news. Wednesday’s session of Prime Minister’s Questions brought hopes that the UK...

- UK Unemployment Holds at 42-Year Low – Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) Exchange Rate Struggles to Capitalise - The Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate fluctuated on Tuesday, struggling to capitalise on a run of upbeat UK labour market readings. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), wage growth in the UK has finally exceeded...

Thursday’s data gave investors little reason to buy the British Pound to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate. As the latest UK services stats worsened Britain’s short-term economic outlook, it had a bigger downside effect on GBP/EUR despite the Eurozone’s latest inflation disappointment. Ultimately, due to weakness in both the Pound and the...

Australian Dollar Slumps as Moody’s Worries about Chinese Economy As well as direct Australian news weakening Australian Dollar demand today, the AUD has also slipped due to Moody’s downgrading its Chinese credit rating. For the first time in nearly 20 years, the company cut its Chinese credit score from A1 to Aa3. In other scales,...

The US Dollar to Japanese Yen exchange rate has seen its worst drop since March this week. Scandals surrounding US President Donald Trump have weakened the ‘Greenback’ and left ‘safe haven’ currencies like the Yen more appealing. USD/JPY began the week trading at around 113.33. The pair then plummeted in the middle of the week and...

Pound Slips as BoE Downgrades Growth Forecasts and Predicts Wage Squeeze The Pound has fallen sharply against the Swedish Krona today, from an opening exchange rate of 11.54 to the latest lows of 11.41. Bank of England (BoE) announcements have triggered this decline, with the BoE interest rate decision starting off the day’s...

The Euro to Canadian Dollar exchange rate slipped from its highs last week and continued to drop on Monday. This was despite general optimism in the Eurozone following the election of pro-EU Emmanuel Macron as the next President of France. EUR/CAD advanced from 1.4879 to 1.5014 last week but was unable to hold Friday’s high of 1.5148....

The Euro has fallen moderately against the Japanese Yen today, but remains close to its best exchange rate since May 2017 at 123.05. The latest Eurozone news has been positive, with retail activity in April rising from 49.5 to 52.7. A figure above 50 points indicates sector growth, which is a relief of Euro traders. Despite the good...

The Euro to New Zealand Dollar exchange rate has been pushed lower this week by a mix of political jitters and a stronger New Zealand Dollar, despite Eurozone data consistently impressing. EUR/NZD has lost around a cent in value so far this week. After beginning the week at the level of 1.5870 the pair had dropped to a weekly low of 1.5688...

With US data proving mixed the US Dollar to Indian Rupee (USD/INR) exchange rate extended its downtrend on Thursday, driven lower by a decline in safe-haven demand. Diminishing Odds of Fed Rate Hike Weighed on US Dollar While members of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) have continued to express a hawkish outlook on monetary...

The US Dollar to Japanese Yen (USD/JPY) exchange rate briefly strengthened on Tuesday’s session to hit its highest point in May on underwhelming Japanese data, but mixed US news including weekly earnings held the ‘Greenback’ down. US Dollar (USD) Struggles to Advance on Unsurprising CPI, Disappointing Wage Data Despite USD/JPY...

At the end of the week the Euro to Japanese Yen (EUR/JPY) exchange rate trended lower, as Eurozone data proved mixed and investors dismissed the latest comments from the Bank of Japan (BoJ). Mixed Eurozone GDP Results Saw Euro Exchange Rate Weaken In spite of news that Germany’s first quarter GDP had bettered expectations this was not...

The Pound Sterling to US Dollar exchange rate (GBP/USD) slipped further from its weekly high on Wednesday as another negative PMI print weighed on the Pound and surprisingly positive data released from the US. <h2>British Economic Worries Continue as Construction PMI Scores Lower</h2> The Pound has struggled to hold its...

The US Dollar to Philippine Peso (USD/PHP) exchange rate edged lower during Thursday’s European session. In response to increasing speculation that the Federal Reserve will hike the benchmark interest rate before the close of the year, the US Dollar advanced across the board. The positive sentiment has overshadowed relatively poor...

After Swedish economic data produced mixed results, the Pound Sterling to Swedish Krona exchange rate climbed by around 0.34%. The Pound is generally holding steady versus most of its peers, however, as traders await the Queens speech which will outline the policies of the new Conservative government. Having registered...

In response to positive British sales data, the Pound edged higher versus many of its currency competitors. The appreciation has been somewhat sluggish, however, thanks to anxieties regarding the 2017 European Union referendum. The Confederation of British Industry's Reported Sales eclipsed the median market forecast of a jump from 12 to...

The Euro to South African Rand (EUR/ZAR) exchange rate was trending within a tight range on Thursday afternoon. Despite the fact that the Eurozone produced largely negative economic data, the common currency strengthened versus a handful of currencies. The appreciation can be linked to a fairly hawkish account of the European Central...

As traders await minutes from the most recent Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the US Dollar is generally trending higher versus several of its currency competitors. The advance was somewhat stymied by MBA Mortgage Applications, however, which declined by -1.5% in the week ending May 15th, although the result was better than the...

The Pound Sterling to Indonesian Rupiah is currently trending in the region of 20465.9451. The British Pound edged lower versus the majority of its most traded currency rivals on Tuesday. This was due to inflation falling into negative territory. April’s Consumer Price Index dropped to -0.1% on the year, the first time we have seen...

The Pound Sterling to Thai Baht (GBP/THB) exchange rate dived by around -0.70% on Monday morning. With British economic data printing relatively disappointingly on Monday, the Pound edged lower versus many of its major peers. The depreciation was somewhat slowed, however, amid heightened demand after a spate of profit-locking took the...

The Pound Sterling to Turkish Lira (GBP/TRY) exchange rate softened by around -0.55% on Friday morning. After British construction data printed positively, the Pound strengthened versus the majority of its most traded currency rivals. The advance was aided by the Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney who stated that the fallout from...

Over the past month or so the US Dollar has declined versus its major peers as a result of disappointing domestic data results. The Federal Reserve previously stated that the Federal Open Monetary Policy Committee (FOMC) would make any rate revision subject to domestic data results. The run of weak ecostats, therefore, caused traders to pare...

The Pound Sterling to Indian Rupee (GBP/INR) exchange rate softened by around -0.50% on Wednesday morning. Although British labour market data produced a positive set of results on Wednesday, the Pound softened versus many of its most traded currency peers. The declination can be attributed to the Bank of England (BoE) cutting the growth...

The Euro to South African Rand (EUR/ZAR) exchange rate rallied by around 0.93% on Tuesday afternoon. Although geopolitical tensions between Greece and Eurozone officials has far from abated, the shared currency strengthened on Tuesday in response to Greece managing to pay the International Monetary Fund (IMF) €750 million ahead of schedule....

Although South Africa’s gauge of Consumer Confidence showed a decline in sentiment, the Rand was able hold its own against the US Dollar as an ecostat from the North American nation also failed to impress. The Rand initially declined against the ‘Greenback’ as investors digested the news that South Africa’s Consumer Confidence index...

The aftermath of the European election results continue to be felt with the pound continuing to fall against the majority of the 16 most actively traded currencies in the foreign exchange market. In a quiet news day in the UK, the UK Treasury revealed that 7,313 homes with a total value of £1 billion have been sold so far under the...

For the second day in a row, the pound fell against the majority of the 16 most actively traded currencies as the repercussions of last week’s European and local elections are still being felt with the Liberal Democrat Leader Nick Clegg coming under pressure from his own party following their poor showing at the polls. This despite the...

The pound fell away from recent highs against the majority of the 16 most actively traded currencies in the market yesterday after the announcement over the weekend that UKIP had won last week’s European elections. This despite better than expected data out of the UK yesterday. Firstly, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI)...

Ahead of the European elections, the pound benefited from a further batch of data which underlined the growing economic recovery in the UK. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the volume of UK retail sales grew by 1.3% month-on-month in April and by 6.9% in the last year. The ONS report suggests that a better than...

The pound rose to hit a new 16 month high against the euro yesterday after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the UK CPI increased by 0.2% in April to 1.8%, up from a reading of 1.6% in March. This will inevitably lead to an increase in speculation as to whether the Bank of England will raise UK interest rates as early...

The markets were quieter than normal as a lack of economic data led to smaller than usual trading volumes ahead of a busy midweek. The markets continue to take stock of the latest comments on the UK housing market from Bank of England Governor Mark Carney who said yesterday that the main domestic risk to financial stability in the UK and...

Risk aversion made a return to the market yesterday after some poor data out of the euro zone and decidedly mixed data out of the US spooked the markets. Overall risk appetite and the euro in particular was hit by disappointing data. This latest data release showed that although the German economy grew during the first quarter of 2014 at...

The pound fell heavily yesterday against the majority of the 16 most actively trade currencies after a ‘dovish’ report from the Bank of England and the latest UK employment data. Presenting the latest quarterly inflation report, Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney said “The economy has just started to head back to normal. As...

The pound, having opened the week rising to a new 16 month high against the euro held on to the gains yesterday. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) reported that UK retail sales rose by 4.2% in the 12 months to April 2014 on a like-for-like basis. Helen Dickinson, Director-General of the BRC said "Retails sales growth for the 12...

The Pound was treading water on Tuesday as the currency’s rally came to a halt ahead of tomorrow’s Bank of England inflation and UK unemployment data reports. Sterling edged lower from a 16-month high against the Euro despite a report showing that retail sales rose by their biggest-level in three-years in April. The BRC Sales...

The pound rose to a 3 month high yesterday afternoon against the euro after the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to maintain unchanged both the benchmark interest rate at 0.5% and the stock of purchased assets, commonly known as Quantitative Easing (QE) at £375 billion. Meanwhile, the Royal Institution of...

The pound held on to the strong gains made on Tuesday after the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) predicted that the UK economy will grow by 3.2% in 2014 and 2.7% in 2015 which if it materialises will make the UK one of the fastest growing G10 economies over the period. In its accompanying statement, the OECD...

The pound opened this short trading week close to a 15 month high against the euro and at a 4 ½ year high against the US dollar as UK economic data continues to improve. Markit reported yesterday that both the UK services and manufacturing sectors grew at a faster than expected rate in April. Markit's 'all sector' purchasing managers...

The pound remains within a percent of the best rates against the euro for 15 months and very close to a 5 year high against the dollar after the latest batch of economic data from the UK showed that the economic recovery seems to be both broad based and solid. Firstly Markit reported that UK Manufacturing PMI hit a three year high in...

The pound traded at a 5 year high against the US dollar yesterday after another poor set of US economic data put the dollar under pressure. The US Commerce Department reported that US gross domestic product expanded at just 0.1% during the first quarter of 2014. Analysts had expected the US economy to have slowed down but still expected a...

Data out from the UK, US and the euro zone failed to have any dramatic impact on the markets yesterday. Instead, the markets seem to be in ‘ consolidation’ mode as we start the last trading day of the month. In the UK, data from the Nationwide suggest that UK house price growth continued to accelerate in May with the number of...

After the positive stance of Tuesday, the markets went into reverse yesterday amidst concerns about the direction of monetary policy in the world’s biggest economy and some poor economic data out yesterday. The more negative tone was set by a report from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which cut global...

Better than expected US data sparked the markets into life in this short trading week yesterday. Sentiment was boosted by a better than expected House price data which surged to a seven year high. In addition, data showed that US consumer confidence surged to a five-year high. Sentiment was also boosted by comments from a European...

A return to risk appetite in the markets is likely to mark trading today after the low trading volumes experienced yesterday with both the London and New York markets closed yesterday. Analysts expect the markets to play ‘catch up’ today as investors have had an opportunity to weigh up last week’s events and, in particular, US...

A major sell-off of risk was felt in worldwide stock markets yesterday after the Japanese stock market fell by 7.3% yesterday, its biggest one-day fall in 13 years. The losses extended to all the European bourses but although the Dow in New York opened over 100 points down, it closed fractionally down on the day after staging something of a...

The pound continues to fall against the majority of the 16 most actively traded currencies yesterday after the publication of the minutes from the last Bank of England (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting revealed that the MPC voted to unanimously maintain UK interest rates at their historic low figure of 0.5%. The MPC also voted 6-3...

The latest UK inflation data published yesterday showed that the UK consumer price index fell from 2.8% in March to 2.4% in April 2013 according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The consensus estimate had been for an increase of 2.7%. Whilst some welcomed the news, it also increased speculation that the Bank of England may...

A quiet start to the week saw the US dollar retreat as the ‘risk-on’ rally in world stock markets continues unabated. Yesterday, the Footsie in London hit a 13 year high. Today sees the publication of UK inflation data but tomorrow, with the publication of the minutes of the last Bank of England and Federal Reserve meetings is likely...

At its latest policy meeting, the Bank of England decided to maintain current policy settings leaving UK interest rates unchanged at 0.5% and the size of its Quantitative Easing (QE) program also unchanged at a total of £375 billion. Recent economic data has revealed that UK gross domestic product (GDP) climbed 0.3% in the first quarter...

The pound fell against the majority of the 16 most actively traded currencies yesterday ahead of the key policy announcement from The Bank of England, due at midday today. Analysts believe that despite data out in the last two weeks showing that the UK avoided the so-called ‘triple-dip’ recession, the economic outlook is still so poor...

The pound starts a new month at multi-week highs against a number of currencies following the release of the GDP data last week that confirmed the UK has avoided a so-called ‘triple-dip’ recession. The pound has also found support as over the last few days, the quality of economic data from the US, China and the euro zone has...