Current Exchange Rates
|
Currency |
Current Rate |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPUSD |
1.4996 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPEUR |
1.1017 |
|
|
|
||
|
EURUSD |
1.3607 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPJPY |
134.99 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPCHF |
1.6121 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPAUD |
1.6464 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPCAD |
1.5403 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPNZD |
2.1422 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPSGD |
2.0987 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPHKD |
11.632 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPCZK |
28.204 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPPLN |
4.2733 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPSEK |
10.7172 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPDKK |
8.2019 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPNOK |
8.8786 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPTHB |
48.99 |
|
|
|
||
|
GBPZAR |
11.099 |
|
|
|
*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
As usual Monday’s economic calendar was slim for major news. Europe saw the Bank of France business sentiment survey fall short of analyst estimates with a score of 102 instead of the predicted 104. Sentix Investor confidence fell by a narrower margin in March, with investor confidence falling to -7.5 as opposed to -8.8, the previous month showed a figure of -8.2. Germany’s industrial production for January grew by 0.6% a slower pace of growth than was predicted by economists who had been hoping to see 1.0% increase in production. The increase came after December saw production decline by an upwardly revised 1.0%. The annual data saw a larger increase of 2.2%, a larger increase than the predicted 0.9% increase and a big leap from the 5.7% drop that was seen in the previous report.
Today Australia has seen business confidence rise to 19 in February, according to the National Australian Bank. The preceding month had seen a lower score of 15, so this positive movement in business confidence will help bolster the Australian Dollar. The NAB’s second report on business conditions also showed an improvement from January’s score of 3 to 8 in February. Lastly the Aussie calendar has seen job advertisements increase by 19.1% in February after January had seen drop in adverts by 8.1%. An increase in job advertisements is good for the economy as it indicates a wider job market and means more there are more opportunities available for Australia’s unemployed.
Europe’s calendar has been quite today, with the only piece of data to be released being the French trade balance which showed a deficit of €3.7 Billion. December’s balance revealed a deficit of €4.3 billion and economists had expected the balance to read €4 billion, so today’s data came in far better than had been predicted and although this report isn’t consider hugely market influential, it will help float the Euro’s value.
The UK’s visible trade balance is expected show a reduced deficit of £7,000 billion in January from December’s deficit of £7,278 billion. More positive trade data is expected to be seen with the Non-EU balance deficit dropping from £3,553 billion to £3,350 billion and the total balance deficit to fall to £3,000 billion from £3,262 billion. The early hours of the morning have seen UK House price balance for February show a slower pace of increase with 17% growth in prices compared to 32% seen in January. Economists had expected price growth to slow but only to 30%, meaning today’s house price balance is quite disappointing. On a positive note, the BRC retail sales monitor showed that annually February’s retail sales increased by 2.2% after the previous report showed sales fell by 0.7%.
The US calendar will be devoid of any major news today. February’s small business optimism report by NFIB is due out at 12:30 GMT and in January saw an index of 89.3. Following at 15:00 will be March’s economic optimism report and then much later into the evening at 22:00 will be the weekly ABC consumer confidence report which showed a reading of 46.8 in the previous week. Economists haven’t provided any expected outcomes for these reports, but any improvements on these reports should push the Dollar’s value up slightly.
Data Releases
|
DAY |
TIME |
CURRENCY |
EVENT |
|
|
|
||||
|
TUE |
09:30 |
GBP |
Visible Trade Balance (Pounds) (JAN) |
|
|
TUE |
09:30 |
GBP |
Trade Balance Non EU (Pounds) (JAN) |
|
|
TUE |
09:30 |
GBP |
Total Trade Balance (Pounds) (JAN) |
|
|
TUE |
12:30 |
USD |
NFIB Small Business Optimism (FEB) |
|
|
TUE |
14:30 |
USD |
Fed Board Member Charles Evans Speaks in Arlington, VA |
|
|
TUE |
15:00 |
USD |
IBD/TIPP Economic Optimism (MAR) |
|
|
TUE |
21:30 |
USD |
API U.S. Crude Oil Inventories (MAR 5) |
|
|
TUE |
21:30 |
USD |
API U.S. Gasoline Inventories (MAR 5) |
|
|
TUE |
21:30 |
USD |
API U.S. Distillate Inventory (MAR 5) |
|
|
TUE |
22:00 |
USD |
ABC Consumer Confidence (MAR 7) |
|
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