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(GBP/EUR – 1.1591) GBP/EUR – 1.1591
Sterling had a roller coaster week dropping to a four month low against the euro and struggling against the dollar earlier this week as weaker than expected inflation data appeared to give the Bank of England more licence to keep monetary policy loose. This meant that all eyes were on Wednesdays release of the minutes from the first Monetary Policy Committee meeting with the new Governor Mark Carney in charge. What was revealed caught the market by surprise in that all 9 members voted in favour of maintaining the Bank of England’s quantitative easing target instead of increasing it. This caused sterling to jump over a cent against the US dollar and euro as many key figures expected the vote to show several members (including the new Governor Mark Carney) to vote in favour of increasing the quantitative easing program, rather than the unanimous decision against this that was revealed. Sterling was also boosted by the news that unemployment claims had dropped by over 20,000 in June, whilst retail sales figures released yesterday came out as expected. This morning sees the release of UK Public Sector Net Borrowing data and a high deficit can have a negative effect on sterling’s performance. Call in now to track developments.
It seems that the euro is not master of its own destiny this week as it continues to play a largely reactionary role whilst events in the UK and USA continue to dominate. The euro actually faired fairly well despite German economic sentiment proving to be worse than forecast. Current account data, showing the difference in value between imports and exports came in slightly worse than expected. Monthly German manufacturing data may impact performance of the single currency today. Additionally, it is worth noting that we have G20 meetings taking place on Saturday and discussions therein, may have implications for the euro and its major trading partners. Call in now for live rates and up to date information.
