Sterling exchange rates have remained fairly flat against most majors in the last week of trading, still hovering around a five year high to buy Dollars and a 20 month high to buy Euros.
With a fresh month starting tomorrow and plenty of economic data due to come out I thought I would give you an overview of what we are due to see released this week.
Overnight – We have the RBA (Reserve Bank of Australia) release their interest rate decision at 05:30am tomorrow morning and although no change to interest rates is expected all eyes will be any comments on the value of the Australian Dollar and if the strength of it is again viewed in a negative light by the RBA then we may see the AUD become cheaper to buy overnight.
Tomorrow – European data will be the main focus in trading tomorrow morning with a host of manufacturing data along with unemployment data from Germany, Italy and the Eurozone as a whole. The unemployment rate is expecting to stay at 11.7% so any alterations to this could give the Euro a volatile morning tomorrow to start off the month. U.K manufacturing PMI is also due out at 08:30am and a minimal drop is expected so unless there is any major change to this I would expect to see a huge amount of movement off the back of it.
Wednesday – Australian Trade balance figures will come out overnight and then we have European GDP (Gross Domestic Product) figures are out at 10:00am which should set the scene for the day for Euro followers. Speeches from the RBA Assistant Governor Debelle and Federal Reserve’s Janet Yellen will also be of great importance for the Australian Dollar and U.S Dollar.
Late night on Wednesday/Early morning Thursday Australian Building Permits and Retail Sales, along with some services data from China could round off a busy week for the Australian Dollar with a bang. Personally I Feel we still have gains to make over the AUD however it has been holding well and truly firm over the past month or so, which is always a concern when U.K economic data has been so good.
Thursday – Thursday we have Services PMI data from just after 8:00am until 09:30am for the Eurozone and U.K with no great alterations to the previous month expected.
In my opinion the main focus for Thursday will be the ECB (European Central Bank) Interest rate decision at 12:45pm and more importantly the press conference shortly after it at 13:30pm. With rates being cut last time around I would be surprised to see the actual rate decision throw up much but the press conference held by head of the ECB (Mario Draghi) always tends lead to a great deal of market volatility.
It usually goes on for around an hour and investors/speculators will be hanging off of his every word, we have seen anything up to a 1.5% swing (£1500 on buying a €125,000 property) during this time frame so if you are in the process of buying or selling a property abroad in Euros it will be prudent to make me aware so that I can inform you of any potential opportunities that may arise.
Friday is Independence day therefore a bank holiday in the States and very thin on the ground for economic data so unless any surprises pop up the markets may be a little more range bound. Do be aware though that due to there being a bank holiday in America there will be thinner trading levels therefore smaller pieces of economic data can have a larger effect than normal.
If you have a requirement in the future but you do not yet have the full availability of funds you can book out a forward contract. This is where you can book a rate out for up to a year in advance with just a small deposit, removing the risk of the currency market making your purchase any more expensive in the future.
This is ideal if you are in the process of buying a property overseas as you can know exactly how much the property is going to cost you today and eliminate the risk of the Pound dropping away again and missing out on this great opportunity.
I look forward to speaking with you if you have any questions or queries or you would like to book out a rate of exchange.
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