Sterling was under pressure from the start of yesterday’s session after comments from BoE Governor Mervyn King weighed on Sterling. King’s testimony to the Treasury Select committee undermined sterling when he expressed concerns about the fragility of the recovery and left the
door open to further quantitative easing if the need arose. When asked whether further Quantitative Easing would be needed, King said, “We’ll have to see how things pan out. My particular concerns at present derive from the state of the world economy, and we stand to do whatever seems appropriate”.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Sterling started Monday morning on the back foot but made slight gains throughout the day’s trading despite recent weak economic data, poor public finances and more talk of a hung parliament in May.
Popularity: 1% [?]
IN THE UK
· Sterling hits 9 month low vs. dollar
· UK Retail sales figures come in at the worst level in 18 months
· GBP/EUR drops below 1.1370
IN THE US
· Dollar rises broadly on Fed discount rate rise
· Crude oil slips due to Fed rate hike
IN THE EU
· EUR/USD drops down from 1.3530
· Euro-zone output grows at a steady pace in Feb
· Survey in Holland suggests majority want Greece out of Europe due to debt problem
· Euro zone lines up €22bn Greek bailout package
At 9.00am this morning the pound was at $1.5467, €1.1373, 11.8490 ZAR, 141.689 JPY, 1.6074 CAD, 1.6639 CHF 11.18 SEK and AU$1.7212. The euro was at $1.3595 against the US dollar.
Today’s key levels of support and resistance are:
GBPUSD Support: 1.5362 1.5251 1.5158 Resistance: 1.5566 1.5659 1.5770
GBPEUR Support: 1.1323 1.1281 1.1201 Resistance: 1.1445 1.1525 1.1567
Popularity: 1% [?]
IN THE UK
UK unemployment data rises by the largest amount since July 2009
BoE minutes show unanimous decision to keep rates on hold and pause quantitative easing.
Sterling gains against the euro recovering to over 1.15 level
Popularity: 1% [?]
Yesterday saw a mixed day for sterling gaining against the US dollar but suffering losses against the euro.
Popularity: 1% [?]
IN THE UK
· House prices rise 6.1% last year
· Inflation set to tip 3.0% in today’s announcements
· Bank of England minutes out tomorrow
Popularity: 1% [?]
Sterling fell sharply yesterday against a basket of currencies more notably against the euro which saw nearly a cent drop and dollar which saw a 2 cent decline, this was after the Bank of England released dovish inflation forecasts and a possibility quantitative easing could continue.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Sterling’s recent bad run against the major currencies continued yesterday, after an unexpected increase in UK Goods Trade Deficit. The figures came in at -£7.3bn, a £0.7bn worse than expected figure which dropped investor confidence, and weighed on Sterling as this suggests that the economy may not have progressed as expected, since the UK exited the recession.
Popularity: 1% [?]
Sterling fell further against the US Dollar yesterday as the pound struggled due to an increase in risk aversion triggered by continuing concerns over the financial health of some of the Euro-zone countries. Concerns about how Euro-zone countries such as Greece and Portugal will service their debts have driven investors away from riskier assets such as sterling. This also serves as a reminder about Britains own financial problems and is likely to keep sterling under heavy selling pressure.
Popularity: 1% [?]
UK
Risk aversion continues with momentum. The Pound has extended its decline against the Dollar and recently fell below 1.5600 for the first time since May of 2009. The pair is falling sharply for the third consecutive day accumulating a decline of more than 400 pips.
Popularity: 1% [?]
