Daily Archives: September 16, 2010
Sterling weakness following worse than expected retail sales data
As predicted in my previous post, Retail sales did come out worse than expected and this has led to the Pound losing ground pretty much accross the board agains the majority of major currencies.
Should you have an upcoming transaction to make and you are worried about the strength of the Pound then do feel free to contact me directly via the enquiry form on the right hand side of this page.
Sterling weakness: retail sales data negative, markets now look to the US
The pound has lost 0.6% v’s the euro and 0.25% v’s the dollar (from open) following poor retail sales data, as detailed in Dan’s post below. The markets are now looking to news from accross the pond this afternoon where we have a host of data out this afternoon. The first relase from america is Jobless claims, expected to show an increae of 9,000. With such a huge economy this is difficult to predict and a variation from expectations could cause USDGBP rate volatility.
We also have Producer Price Index (inflation) data out. a high reading would typically suggest the need for an interest hike, however this is highly unlikey in the US as it would stifle the economy.
Next up we have Treasury International Capital Flows, don’t be put off by the complex name, it basically measures USD going out of the country and foreign currency coming in. All this determines the trade balance which is important to the US. If the figure is low or negative it shows that more USD are leaving teh country and therefore the US is importing too much. This is negative for the US Dollar. (The opposite is true if we see a positive figure. Expectations are for a low figure.)
We also see manufacturing data from the Philadelphia fed reserve, a good indicator of the health and strength of US manufacturing and trends in th sector. Last months figure was terrible and a better release is expected.
Finally we have Geinthner’s press conference. He is the Secretary of the US treasury and his views can cause significant market movement. For more information on how these data releases can move world currency markets, not just the USD, fill in the enquiry form on the right and speak to an expert currency dealer today.
Pound sterling exchange rates – strength or weakness this morning with retail sales data
Retail sales data is due out this morning at 09:30am and this data generally brings movements on the currency markets.
Expected is a figure of 0.3% month on month and any change to this be it negative or positive generally should lead to the strength or weakness, data for the U.K of late has been generally poor so brace yourselves for another potential setback if you are looking to send money overseas in the near future, however as always anything can happen!
If you are buying a property abroad, have business transactions to carry out or need to get money overseas for any other reason and want the best exchange rates, just fill in the form on the right hand side and one of the experienced traders that write on this blog will be in touch shortly.
