The pound edged higher, achieving its biggest weekly advance against the euro since January, as signs pointed to the UK economic recovery talking hold. The pound/euro pairing was little changed at the end of last week, though sterling did creep up, supported by reports showing gains in consumer confidence and UK house prices. Month-on-month property prices were up for the sixth consecutive month in October and were 2% higher than in the same month the previous year. However, the pace of monthly price rises has eased, going up by just 0.4%.
Posts Tagged ‘Market Expectations’
Pound edged up slightly against the euro on Friday but is down around 0.7% in trading this morning
Posted by admin on November 2nd, 2009
Posted in 
Positive GDP figures in the US drove dollar selling yesterday enabling the pound to gain
Posted by admin on October 30th, 2009
Sterling extended its rally, briefly climbing above $1.66 as the dollar sold off broadly after strong economic growth data spurred demand for riskier assets. In early trading, the pound found support from data that showed UK mortgage approvals for September increased to their highest level since February last year, exceeding market forecasts. Risk appetite was buoyed further in the afternoon after a report showed the US economy returned to growth in the third quarter, boosting stocks and reducing the appeal of the relative safety of the greenback. The US economy in the third quarter grew by 3.5% on an annualised basis, beating market expectations of a 3.3% rise and easing recently voiced concerns over the strength of the US recovery.
“Anti-risk” trend continues. The dollar reached a critical point
Posted by admin on October 29th, 2009
At previous sessions, the markets continued their game against the risk: a series of weak U.S. reports, faded stock markets and triggered stop-loss – all these factors helped the dollar advance. Dollar Index reached its maximum value by more than 2 weeks at the level of 76.559. We all sat down in their heads now, one question: what brings the current dollar rally – a new opportunity for him to sell or the beginning of something more sinister. As an index of the dollar should pay special attention to the level of 76.62, which will play a decisive role.
Click to continue reading ““Anti-risk” trend continues. The dollar reached a critical point”
Aussie was broadly sold yesterday as investors withdrew riskier positions
Posted by admin on October 29th, 2009
The pound advanced by 2.3% against the aussie as risk appetite stumbled in the wake of weak US economic data and a steep slide in global equities.In the early session, Australian inflation data was revealed to be slightly below expectations, leading investors to pare bets that the Reserve Bank of Australia will decide on a hefty interest-rate hike next week. The consumer price index rose in the third quarter by an annual 1.3%, the smallest gain since the second quarter of 1999, after advancing 1.5% in the previous three months.
The pound continues its rally against a broadly weaker aussie
Posted by admin on October 28th, 2009
Sterling edged up against the aussie yesterday, benefiting from improved UK sales data, which supported claims that the UK economy is recovering. On Monday evening, MPC member Adam Posen, following negative GDP data, stated that there were still signs of an economic recovery even if Britain is behind other countries in pulling out of the recession. His statement found support yesterday after the UK CBI sales showed month-on-month improvement, beating market expectations and buoying demand for the UK currency. The UK currency has pushed higher in trading this morning after investors pared bets of a steep rate rise in Australia after inflation data did not increase by as much as some had anticipated.
Click to continue reading “The pound continues its rally against a broadly weaker aussie”
US dollar continues to push higher against the euro, as consumer confidence stumbles
Posted by admin on October 28th, 2009
The dollar rose against the single currency for a third consecutive day in its longest advance since August, as a report showed US consumer confidence fell this month. The euro struggled in trading yesterday after data showed that public sector lending in the eurozone declined by 0.3% in September compared to this period last year. The figure raises concern that there are still few signs that the ECB’s unlimited provision of liquidity to banks is prompting any pick up in eurozone broad money lending, which could put pressure on the single currency.
Pound edges higher against a stronger dollar, which found support from weak consumer sentiment
Posted by admin on October 28th, 2009
Sterling closed up against the dollar yesterday, but slipped back nearly a cent from its intra-day high after a survey showed that consumer confidence in the US disappointed market expectations. In early trading, the markets continued to take the pound higher with analysts noting that long term investors and Asian reserve managers were attracted by sterling’s one-week low. This trend was maintained as the UK CBI retail sales index advanced to a balance of +8 in October from a balance of +3 in September, the largest advance since June 2007, beating forecasts.
UK GDP contracts by 0.4% – pound dives
Posted by admin on October 23rd, 2009
Data this morning has run significantly against market expectations, confirming that Britain is still in a recession. The UK’s third quarter GDP figure was revealed to be a 0.4% contraction, which now means that the UK has suffered 6 consecutive quarters of negative growth. Market participants had speculated that the UK economy would grow by 0.2% in the months from July to September and had taken the pound slightly higher this morning. There has been data recently though that points to this disappointing figure. Data in early Ocotber revealed that manufacturing production had fallen by 1.9%, significantly below forecast and this has clearly weighed heavily on overall output.
Click to continue reading “UK GDP contracts by 0.4% – pound dives”
Pound continued to climb against the aussie yesterday as confidence in the UK economy improved
Posted by admin on October 22nd, 2009
A broadly stronger pound hit a two-week high against the aussie, briefly rising over 1.8000, as confidence in the UK economy gained momentum.Sterling jumped following the minutes from the Bank of England’s latest policy meeting, which dampened expectations of an extension to quantitative easing. The minutes appeared to move the balance of market expectations to the possibility of a pause of the government’s asset purchase scheme in November, reversing recent speculation. In addition, the aussie dollar found its strength undermined as commodity prices, most notably oil, turned lower, discouraging investors from the higher-yielding currency.
Sterling made substantial ground on the dollar yesterday as the BoE showed no sign of loosening montary policy further
Posted by admin on October 22nd, 2009
Dollar selling in the market was stepped up with investors moving into the pound as the MPC minutes proved more positive than expected. The pound climbed over 1.66, posting a two and half cent gain against the dollar as the minutes from the Bank of England’s October monetary policy meeting struck a less dovish tone than recent comments suggested. Analysts said the most important story within the release was the fact that in the September meeting, governor Mervyn King thought an expansion of the central bank’s quantitative easing programme could be justified. But there was no mention of that in this latest meeting.
Sterling has resumed its recent upward trend against the kiwi, buoyed by brief market selling in high-yielders and by the MPC minutes
Posted by admin on October 21st, 2009
Sterling climbed over a cent and a half against the kiwi in trading yesterday as the market briefly turned bearish on higher-yielding currencies. The pound reversed losses incurred on Monday, but closed the day some way from its intra-day high of 2.2000 as investors held back from taking significant positions ahead of the UK MPC minutes released today. The kiwi dollar, which has broadly risen as the global economy shows increasing signs of recovery, fell back as demand for “riskier” assets stumbled following some weak economic data from the US economy.
Lower equites, dulled risk appetite yesterday enabling the US dollar to post gains against the euro
Posted by admin on October 21st, 2009
The single currency slipped back from a fresh 14-month high against the dollar following further comments from the ECB that expressed apprehension over the euro’s strength. In early trading, options buying once again prevented the euro from pushing through the psychologically important $1.50 level, posting a high of $1.4993. The single currency was supported after further positive corporate earnings weighed on haven demand for the dollar, emboldening investors to sell the low-yielding US unit to fund the purchase of riskier, higher-yielding assets elsewhere. However the euro fell back as the ECB repeated their support for the US Treasury’s self-professed strong-dollar policy, and expressed concerns over recent “volatile” trends in the market and the strength of the single currency In the afternoon Wall street slipped as tame US inflation data offset strong quarterly earnings from Apple, denting investor appetite to sell the low-yield dollar. The economic data, which showed that the US PPI unexpectedly dropped by 0.6% last month, disappointed market expectations and helped the greenback recover earlier losses, though analysts said that it would remain under pressure as long as stocks continued to show an upward trend.
Sterling edged down against the dollar yesterday, but is currently trading back over 1.65 this morning
Posted by admin on October 21st, 2009
Sterling capped its five-day upward trend against the dollar, falling back from a one-month high of $1.6487 as weak economic data supported the haven currency. In early trading, sterling held steady against the dollar after UK public finances showed a weak figure but better than market expectations, which offset the negative impact of news that Qatar are selling a significant stake in Barclays bank. Data showed a deficit reading of £14.8 billion bringing Britain’s public spending to its worst six months on record, however, the data was better than forecasts, which analysts said boosted sterling’s gains.
Pound slid back against the euro yesterday, but has rebounded strongly in trading today
Posted by admin on October 21st, 2009
Sterling dipped slightly against the single currency, relinquishing gains in the afternoon as US equities slipped back, closing the day down just 0.1% at 1.0958. In early trading, investors picked up on comments from the ECB President who added to remarks from other eurozone officials expressing worries about the strength of the single currency. In response the markets took the euro slightly lower, enabling the pound to reach up over 1.10, near Monday’s 3-week high. In addition, the pound gained slight support after the UK public spending deficit in September fell short of market expectations, buoying investor sentiment.
The single currency slipped back on Friday following weak Bank of America earnings
Posted by admin on October 19th, 2009
The US currency snapped a four-day losing streak against the euro, rising from a 14-month low, as investors cautioned their risk activity following further corporate earnings reports. The dollar strengthened as Bank of America earnings fell short of expectations, sparking profit taking in the euro, as well as higher-yielding currencies. The Bank reported losses of $1 billion in the third quarter, which sent equity markets down having rallied on the more positive earnings of other major US banks and corporations earlier in the week. This report aided the dollar, strengthening haven appeal and bringing the US currency up from multi-month lows against the euro.
Sponsors:
