Thu, February 02, 2012
The Pound finished lower against the Euro and higher against the US Dollar in the foreign exchange market yesterday. The GBP/EUR exchange rate picked up from 1.2042 at the morning’s open to trade down at 1.2004 by the close of the UK business day, and the GBP/USD exchange rate gaining from 1.5752 at the day’s open to trade up at 1.5851 at the European market close, breaking the 1.5800 barrier. Yesterday we saw the UK PMI Manufacturing for the month of January come in better than expected at 52.1 vs. 50.0, which is up from the prior month of 49.7.
Today from the UK we will see the PMI Construction figures for the month of January due at 09:30GMT and is expected at 52.5 by economists.
The Euro gained against the pound and the US Dollar in the currency exchange market yesterday. The EUR/USD exchange rate gained from the mornings open at 1.3076 to trade higher at 1.3201 by the European market close. Yesterday we have seen the Italian, French, German and Euro-zone PMI manufacturing figures all come in slightly better than expectations. Italian PMI manufacturing for the month of January came in at 46.8 vs. 45.3 up from the prior month of 44.3.
Later today we will look out for the 10:00GMT Euro-zone Producer Price Index which is expected to decline from 5.3% to 4.3% across the year.
The US Dollar lost ground against the Pound and Euro, partially due to reports of bondholders negotiating a debt swap deal in Greece and on top of this we had encouraging EU related PMI data. Economic data from the US was fairly mixed yesterday, with ADP Employment Change fell from 292k to 17ok compared to the previous month and ISM manufacturing for the month of January came in at 54.1 vs. 54.5 compared to expectations, however the figure was up from the peior month of 53.1.
Today from the US we will look out for the Initial and Continuing Jobless Claims due at 13:30 GMT, however the main focus for today will be at 15:00 GMT when Fed’s Bernanke testifies before the house budget committee today.
This Daily Market Update is brought to you by The Market Team @ KBRFX – Exchange Rate, Currency Conversion & Foreign Currency Transfer specialists.
| Day | Time | Currency | Event |
|---|---|---|---|
| THU | 09:30 | GBP Purchasing Manager Index Construction (JAN) | THU | 10:00 | EUR Euro-Zone Producer Price Index (YoY) (DEC) | THU | 10:00 | EUR Euro-Zone Producer Price Index (MoM) (DEC) | THU | 12:30 | USD Challenger Job Cuts (YoY) (JAN) | THU | 13:00 | USD RBC Consumer Outlook Index (FEB) | THU | 13:30 | USD Continuing Claims (JAN 21) | THU | 13:30 | USD Initial Jobless Claims (JAN 28) | THU | 13:30 | USD Non-Farm Productivity (4Q P) | THU | 13:30 | USD Unit Labor Costs (4Q P) | THU | 14:00 | USD Fed's Evans Speaks to Reporters in Chicago | THU | 15:00 | USD Fed's Bernanke Testifies Before House Budget Committee | THU | 15:30 | USD EIA Natural Gas Storage Change (JAN 27) |
| GBP/USD | 1.5837 |
|---|---|
| GBP/EUR | 1.2043 |
| EUR/USD | 1.31151 |
| GBP/JPY | 120.55 |
| GBP/CHF | 1.4514 |
| GBP/AUD | 1.4775 |
| GBP/CAD | 1.58010 |
| GBP/NZD | 1.8994 |
| GBP/SGD | 1.9734 |
| GBP/HKD | 12.2783 |
| GBP/CZK | 30.341 |
| GBP/PLN | 5.0415 |
| GBP/SEK | 10.6573 |
| GBP/DKK | 8.9539 |
| GBP/NOK | 9.207 |
| GBP/THB | 48.9941 |
| GBP/ZAR | 12.1815 |
*These are indicative rates only, based on interbank prices at the time of writing. For exact rates please contact our dealing team
| S | M | T | W | T | F | S |
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| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
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