Current Exchange Rates
|
Currency |
Current Rate |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPUSD |
1.5045 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPEUR |
1.1008 |
|
|
|
||
|
EURUSD |
1.3664 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPJPY |
133.00 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPCHF |
1.6114 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPAUD |
1.6688 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPCAD |
1.5505 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPNZD |
2.1784 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPSGD |
2.1059 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPHKD |
11.68 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPCZK |
28.3950 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPPLN |
4.3053 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPSEK |
10.736 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPDKK |
8.1959 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPNOK |
8.8824 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPTHB |
49.11 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPZAR |
11.3032 |
|
|
|
*These are indicative rates only, based on interbank prices at the time of writing. For exact rates please call our dealing team on +44 (0)1375 489 480
Market Overview
Yesterday Sterling recovered slightly after the serious beating it took at the start of the week, halting its 6 day decline against the US dollar to see a daily high of 1.5120. The UK's services PMI reading for February jumped to 58.4 from 54.5 in the previous month to mark the highest reading since January 2007. The positive PMI data, along with February's improvement in consumer confidence, which moved up from a reading of 74 to 80, has kept Sterling buoyant and halted its recent decline.
Thursday’s calendar will see some key pieces of economic data. For the UK it’s the BoE’s asset purchase programme targets and interest rate decision. Previously the BoE has maintained a £200 billion asset purchasing programme, but the BoE has left the open for further quantitative easing by adopting a wait and see approach, but as it stands expectations are for it the programme’s target to remain at £200 billion. The Bank of England will also be announcing its key interest rate decision at 12:00 GMT. The consensus is for interest rates to remain at 0.5%.
Australia’s trade deficit fell to A$1.176 billion in the month of January, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The figure was in fact stronger than the A$1.5 billion deficit that analysts had predicted and follows from the revised A$2.174 billion deficit in December.
For the Euro-zone, the key points of interest will the 4th Quarter GDP data and the ECB’s interest rate decision which will be announced in the early part of the afternoon. This morning though, has seen 4th quarter French mainland unemployment rates rise 9.6% following an increase of 9.1% in the previous quarter. The consensus had been for unemployment to rise by 9.4%. Total unemployment rose to 10.0% for the 4th quarter from 9.5% previously and overshooting expectations of 9.8% increase.
Europe’s GDP is expected to hold at 0.1% increase sequentially from the third quarter and annually show a continued contraction of 2.1%. A greater expansion of Europe’s economy than the predicted 0.1% growth would see the Euro gain ground against the other major currencies, but should its growth fall short of analyst predictions then the Euro value will plummet. Europe’s fixed capital investments are predicted to drop by 0.9% from shallower decline of 0.4% in the last quarter. Growth in fixed capital investment tends to increase productivity and GDP growth as well as giving some measure of increased business sentiment. This culminates in the rising value of the Euro.
The Euro-zone’s government expenditure is expected to show a lower increase of 0.4% compared to the third quarter’s increase of 0.5% and household consumption is predicted to fall by 0.1% a slight improvement from the previous quarter’s decline of 0.2%. Lastly ECB will announce its key interest rate decision in the early part of this afternoon. It is predicted that the central bank will hold interest rates at 1.00% as the Governing Council expects to see an “uneven” recovery, and subdued inflation may lead the central bank to maintain a dovish outlook for future policy as they try to ensure price stability.
The headline figure for the US calendar today will be January’s pending home sales. December’s saw home sales increase by 1.0% and should January see continued growth in pending sales the Dollar will gain a little boost to its value. The US will also announce 4th quarter Non-farm productivity, weekly initial and continuing jobless claims, January’s factory orders and ICSC Chain store sales. None of these reports are considered to be market influential, however if they, when combined, paint a poor picture of the economy then we’ll see the Dollar fall back, otherwise a positive outlook will push it up.
Data Releases
|
DAY |
TIME |
CURRENCY |
EVENT |
|
|
|
||||
|
THU |
10:00 |
EUR |
Euro-Zone Gross Domestic Product s.a. (QoQ) (4Q P) |
|
|
THU |
10:00 |
EUR |
Euro-Zone Gross Domestic Product s.a. (YoY) (4Q P) |
|
|
THU |
10:00 |
EUR |
Euro-Zone Household Consumption (QoQ) (4Q P) |
|
|
THU |
10:00 |
EUR |
Euro-Zone Gross Fixed Capital (QoQ) (4Q P) |
|
|
THU |
10:00 |
EUR |
Euro-Zone Government Expenditure (QoQ) (4Q P) |
|
|
THU |
12:00 |
GBP |
Bank of England Interest Rate Decision |
|
|
THU |
12:00 |
GBP |
Bank of England Asset Purchase Target (British Pounds) |
|
|
THU |
12:45 |
EUR |
European Central Bank Interest Rate Decision |
|
|
THU |
13:30 |
USD |
Non-Farm Productivity (4Q F) |
|
|
THU |
13:30 |
USD |
Unit Labor Costs (4Q F) |
|
|
THU |
13:30 |
USD |
Initial Jobless Claims (FEB 27) |
|
|
THU |
13:30 |
USD |
Continuing Claims (FEB 20) |
|
|
THU |
15:00 |
USD |
Pending Home Sales (MoM) (JAN) |
|
|
THU |
15:00 |
USD |
Pending Home Sales (YoY) (JAN) |
|
|
THU |
15:00 |
USD |
Factory Orders (JAN) |
|
|
THU |
15:30 |
USD |
ICSC Chain Store Sales (YoY) (FEB) |
|
|
THU |
18:00 |
USD |
Fed's Evans Speaks in Chicago, Illinois |
|
|
THU |
18:15 |
USD |
Fed's Bullard to Speak in St. Cloud, Minnesota |
|
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RM18 7ND