September 2015 News Archive

Both the Pound and US Dollar weakened today, leaving the British Pound to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate jittery in anticipation of tonight’s US Presidential Debate. Following last week’s tumble from the level of 1.2918 to 1.2742, GBP/USD has been trending with an upside bias this week so far. Though GBP/USD’s advances have...

While the Pound’s late-week gains on Brexit hopes were volatile and likely temporary, the British Pound to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate still sustained impressive gains last week overall. The US Dollar struggled to avoid losses against Sterling due to expectations for the Federal Reserve to cut US interest rates next week. After...

Thanks to fading fears that a ‘no-deal Brexit’ is likely, as well as higher market appeal for taking risks, the British Pound to Japanese Yen (GBP/JPY) exchange rate has continued to rally this week so far. The Pound could be in for even further gains later in the week if there are notable Brexit developments. Last week saw GBP/JPY...

Hopes for a more optimistic Brexit outlook briefly cause a surge in demand for the British Pound to Japanese Yen (GBP/JPY) exchange rate last week. However, due to fresh uncertainties and another market rush for ‘safe haven’ currencies, GBP/JPY has already shed last week’s gains. Last week saw GBP/JPY open at the level of 142.84, and...

Pound Sterling (GBP) As with Monday, the Pound has ticked up against the Euro and US Dollar today mainly because there is little interest in the Euro at present. UK news has brought the announcement that Theresa May will be meeting with Donald Tusk, President of the European Council. The meeting is expected to see May fill Tusk in on her...

Political news has influenced the British Pound to Japanese Yen exchange rate in recent sessions. While the Japanese Yen has benefitted from market demand for ‘safe haven’ currencies, its strength has been limited due to news that Japan would be holding a snap election on the 22nd of October. Despite persistent demand for ‘safe...

Pound Rallies despite Growing Concerns about UK Leadership The Pound has advanced by 0.8% against the South African Rand today, despite the handicap of a possible Conservative leadership battle behind the scenes. Although fears of this event had faded in the aftermath of the snap election earlier this year, they have since returned in...

GBP NZD Exchange Rate Recovers from All-time Low The Pound to New Zealand Dollar exchange rate is swiftly returning towards an all-time low, as Brexit fears overpower hawkish comments made last week by Bank of England (BoE) policymaker Kristin Forbes. NZD GBP Exchange Rate on the Rise Despite market relief that Donald Trump failed...

Pound Sterling Exchange Rate News: Widespread Losses after ‘Hard Brexit’ Fears Voiced Pound Sterling exchange rates have made a number of sizable losses today, having slumped by -0.2% against the South African Rand and by -0.4% against the Israeli New Shekel, among others. This lack of confidence in the Pound has mainly come from...

The Australian Dollar US Dollar exchange rate has advanced by almost a cent since the beginning of the week as traders continue to buy into the commodity based ‘Aussie’ as they bet against an increase in interest rates by the Federal Reserve. Australian Dollar Strong against US Dollar (AUD USD) and Japanese Yen (JPY) After Bank of...

GBP-USD Exchange Rate Slides Today as US Prepares for Fed Speeches UK Loans Data Fails to Provide Sterling Edge in GBP-USD Pairing The Pound Sterling has been unable to make any overall progress against the US Dollar today and given the results in store for the ‘Greenback’, it seems unlikely that a major Sterling rally will be seen...

EUR-CAD Exchange Rate Rises following Canadian Retail Sales Washout Today The Euro has advanced considerably against the Canadian Dollar today, mainly on account of the day’s Canadian results being a let-down rather than the anticipated Eurozone figures offering any significant cause for joy among speculators. Canada’s only major...

Sterling Drops as UK Debt Rises; BoE Comments on Interest Rates Cancel Each other Out to see GBP-USD at a Disadvantage The Pound Sterling has dropped from a high of 1.5561 at the start of the week to a low of 1.5438 today, following the news that the UK Public Sector Net Borrowing figures and the variant Excluding Banking Groups have both...

Confidence in ‘Kiwi’ has Plummeted Today as Relevant New Zealand News is Overwhelmingly Negative The New Zealand Dollar has fallen against the Euro (NZD-EUR) today and has posted in the negative against all other rivals. The ‘Kiwi’ has seen a figure of 0.5634 in the current conversion rate, a results that remains close to the worst...

EUR-USD Exchange Rate Declined Steadily as Confusion Reigns over Effect of US Economic Releases The Euro began this week on a high note, but has slipped downwards considerably following a spate of pessimistic predictions for the future of the Eurozone’s economy. Meanwhile, the US Dollar has fluctuated wildly as each piece of positive or...

‘Swissie’ (CHF) is on the Back Foot against Sterling (GBP) Today as Batch of Swiss Results Proves a Letdown The Swiss Franc has performed poorly in the CHF-GBP pairing today, trending at 0.6682. Primarily, the slight positive effect of the price of gold rising from below $1105 per 100 ounces to above $1106 today has had little impact...

The Euro advanced strongly against the Japanese Yen today; this comes after the release of both the Eurozone and Japanese Q2 GDP data. Both currencies had their figures print positively with regard to estimates, but the outcome of the Eurozone results was far superior, seeing the single currency exchange rate stick around 133.9939 after the...

Slow Data Week sees CHF Nevertheless Rise in Pairing as Australian Economy Plods on The Swiss Franc has performed exceptionally well with 1.4793 against the Australian Dollar today, and has maintained its strength against the ‘Aussie’ for the past month, remaining close to 1.4881, its highest conversion rate in 10 years today. This...

Chinese Shutdown Added to ‘Aussie’ Woes Last Week in AUD-USD Pairing The Australian Dollar declined considerably against the US Dollar last week, beginning on a high of 0.7150 and ending the Australasian trading session at a low of 0.6909. This poor performance has continued into this week, with the ‘Aussie’ opening at a loss of...

Fed Uncertainty Dampens ‘Greenback’ Optimism as USD-NZD Posts Minor Loss The US Dollar has fallen to 1.5791 against the New Zealand Dollar today, although it is currently trending close to the highest exchange rate level since the end of 2009. The US Dollar has been adversely affected recently by a combination of Federal Reserve...

The Pound continues to recover from the heavy losses incurred at the start of the trading week. Less than a week ahead of the Scottish independence referendum, the financial implications of a ‘yes’ vote for Scottish independence has finally come under intense scrutiny as the Royal bank of Scotland, Lloyds and the TSB all said they...

The upcoming Scottish referendum, now barely a week away continues to dominate the attention of the foreign exchange market. In trading yesterday, traders took profits which allowed the pound to find some stability after its recent sharp falls across the board. The pound did best against the Australian and New Zealand dollars as traders...

The pound continues to trade at multi-month lows against the majority of the 16 most actively traded currencies in the foreign exchange market yesterday but managed to avoid any further steep losses for the time being. Some support for the beleaguered Pound came from Bank of England (BoE) Governor Mark Carney who in a speech to the Trades...

With less than 10 days to go to the date of the Scottish referendum vote, the results of a YouGov survey out over the weekend showing that the ‘yes’ camp has gained a slight lead in the polls for the first time sent the Pound sharply lower again. The Pound is now trading at a 3 month low against the Euro, despite last week’s interest...

In a day dominated by the latest policy announcements from the Bank of England (BoE) and the European Central Bank (ECB), the Euro felt the full force of the surprise policy announcement from ECB President Mario Draghi and promptly fell over 1% in the afternoon trading session against both the Pound and the US Dollar. For its part, the...

Market concerns about the potential for political instability in the run-up to the Scottish referendum on the 18th September is causing havoc in the foreign exchange market for a second day in a row with the Pound bearing the brunt. Despite better than expected UK economic data out in each of the last two trading days, Tuesday morning’s...

The pound fell heavily in trading in yesterday’s foreign exchange market after the latest opinion poll showed that Alex Salmond's campaign for Scotland to vote for independence in the upcoming referendum due on 18 September needs only three more percentage points to claim victory. With just over 2 weeks to go until the referendum vote, a...

<strong>Today saw the best exchange rates available for those wishing to carry out money transfers to France, Spain, Ireland and Germany etc.</strong> Worldwide manufacturing data dominated the economic data releases yesterday at the start of the trading week and month. Significant slowdowns were shown in the manufacturing...

The dollar weakened to its lowest level against the pound since 12 January following the surprise decision by Ben Bernanke’s Federal Reserve not to taper its massive $85 billion a month stimulus programme. In his latest monthly policy announcement, Bernanke said that the economic data since June did not support a cut in the bond purchase...

All eyes remain firmly focused on the announcement, due at 7 PM UK time tonight from the US Federal Reserve as to their latest policy move. Ahead of this, we have the release of the minutes from the Bank of England’s own policy meeting from the beginning of the month which will give the markets an insight into the latest thinking from...

The withdrawal by Larry Summers late on Sunday night from the race to replace outgoing US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke sparked a relief rally sending world stock markets sharply up, benefiting the high yielding currencies like the Australian dollar to the detriment of the US dollar. The withdrawal of Summers from the race seems...

The Pound Euro exchange rate reached 1.19 GBP/EUR yesterday, meaning the best pound to euro money transfers since 20 January 2013 as the markets continue to bet that the Bank of England will have to increase interest rates sooner than the 2016 date currently anticipated by new Governor Mark Carney when he presented his ‘forward guidance’...

The pound reached an 8 month high against the US dollar yesterday after further good data from the UK and China gave the pounds further impetus and diminished demand for the dollar’s safe haven appeal. In the UK, speculation is mounting that the Bank of England will raise UK interest rates sooner than expected in response to the rapidly...

The pound found further support yesterday, taking it to a new 8 month high against the euro and a 3 month high against the US dollar. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) reported yesterday that UK house prices rose at their fastest pace in almost seven years in August and sales volumes also hit a multi-year high. Rics...

The pound opened the trading week and quickly rose to an 8 month high against the euro as UK Chancellor George Osborne declared victory over his critics and rejected claims that he is simply creating a new consumer and housing bubble ahead of the 2015 general election. Osborne argued that “The government’s continued fiscal credibility...

The pound opens this morning at an 8 month high against the euro after the Bank of England kept its policy settings unchanged yesterday and declined the opportunity of giving the markets any further guidance on future policy. The Monetary Policy committee (MPC) of the Bank surprised the markets yesterday by choosing not to comment on...

The pound continued its good start to the trading week yesterday, touching a fresh 3 month high against the euro after the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) upgraded the UK’s growth prospects. The OECD now expects the UK economy to grow this year by 1.5%, up from its May forecast of 0.8% and bracketed the UK with...

The pound surged to a three month high against the euro yesterday on the back of the best UK manufacturing data for over two years with both output and new orders expanding sharply with UK manufacturing suggesting that third quarter growth could easily break through the 1% mark. The survey showed that domestic orders were the main source...

The euro remained above a two-week trough on Friday after Spain announced a crisis budget which many viewed as heading in the direction of requesting a bailout. The common currency appears likely to close the quarter out with a slight gain, although it is expected to remain pressurised in the quarter ahead, with the financial crisis in...

The euro remained near one-week lows versus the dollar in Wednesday’s early Asian trading, pressured by ongoing uncertainty over Spain’s lack of urgency in requesting a financial bailout. On Tuesday, protesters and police clashed in the Spanish capital, Madrid, as the stricken country got ready for a fresh wave of austerity measures in...

The euro fell close to last week’s trough versus the dollar, while the Australian and New Zealand dollars lost ground on profit-taking as earlier rallies triggered by the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank’s stimulus moves during the last couple of weeks ran out of steam. The euro was also held back by continuing uncertainty...

The euro advanced on Friday as talk that Spain could soon be set to request help saw the currency recover the ground it lost on Thursday. Further gains could put its four-and-a-half month high of $1.31729 firmly in its sights after having reached that mark earlier in the week. However, traders said they did not expect it to reach this...

The euro lost ground on the dollar for the second consecutive day on Tuesday as investors started to bet on its recent rally rising too high, too quickly, as focus turned back to debt-ridden Spain. Pressure is mounting on Spain to finally request aid and ensure the European Central Bank’s bond-purchasing programme launches. The ECB’s...

The dollar remained near a seven-month low today was likely to stay around this mark for the foreseeable future after last week’s announcement by the US Federal Reserve that it was to kick off a fresh round of quantitative easing. The euro maintained its strong performance of late by staying close to its four-month peak against the...

The Federal Reserve announced on Thursday after its two-day policy meeting that it plans to inject fresh monetary stimulus into the US economy, in news that did not surprise the market and sent the dollar tumbling against most major currencies. The US central bank revealed that its initial plan is to buy $40bn of mortgage debt monthly as...

The euro moved up to a four-month peak versus the dollar after Germany’s Constitutional Court approved the European Central Bank’s new rescue plan for the eurozone. However, the German court said that its ruling was only made on the European Stability Mechanism on the condition that any contribution which Germany makes in excess of 190...

The euro dropped back from Friday’s near four-month high, but talk of Federal Reserve quantitative easing later in the week limited losses. The US central bank is holding a policy meeting on Thursday and expectations are high that the ensuing announcement will reveal that it will inject further stimulus in order to support the flagging...

The euro was steady close to a two-month peak versus the dollar in early Asian trading on Friday while the yen suffered heavy losses as markets reacted to the European Central Bank’s announcement on solving the eurozone debt crisis. Mario Draghi, the ECB president, held a news conference on Thursday at which he unveiled a fresh and...

The euro hit back from losses earlier on Wednesday to climb sharply after suggestions that the European Central Bank’s policy meeting on Thursday will see President Mario Draghi announce a new wave of government bond buying in order to combat the eurozone debt crisis. The ECB announced in August that it would launch a fresh bon buying...

Early trade in Asia on Tuesday saw the euro remain steady as optimism remained that the ECB will announce plans to tackle the bloc’s debt crisis at its meeting on Thursday. The currency’s resilience came even though ratings agency Moody’s changed its European Union Aaa rating to negative, warning that it might downgrade the EU if it...