EURO/GBP - 1.168
US$/GBP – 1.440
CHF/GBP – 1.664
CAN$/GBP - 1.537
AUS$/GBP – 1.733

Sterling fell by 1% yesterday against the US dollar as investors continued to suffer from risk aversion. At one point the pound hit $1.4250/ £1 but recovered slightly towards the end of the day. Sterling performed well against the euro, breaching 1.17/ £1 before falling off the day’s high. The reason for sterling’s fall against the US dollar was that stock markets plummeted yesterday as concerns mounted over the Spanish financial system. In addition, mounting tensions between North Korea and South Korea caused markets to panic as news came through that the North Korean military had been mobilised and ordered to attack if fired upon by the South. In terms of data, the UK’s 1st Quarter GDP was revised upwards to 0.3% which was as expected and had little effect on the markets. Out today we have mortgage approval data for the UK, which is unlikely to have a huge effect on sterling. Call in now for a price, as sentiment is the key driver of currencies at the moment and could see the price move either way.

In the Euro zone, the takeover of the CajaSur bank by the Spanish central bank has triggered a new wave of risk aversion. Many analysts in the region predict that there will be further bank rescues later in the year and this news pushed up intrabank lending costs and fuelled demand for the US dollar. The euro fell to 1.2230/ $1 – within a cent of last week’s 4 year low of 1.2143/ $1. So far today we have seen German consumer confidence data fall this month and French consumer spending fall by 1.2%. Get in touch now if you are holding euros and need to exchange them, as many analysts are forecasting further euro weakness especially against the US$.

In the USA, the US dollar continued to benefit from global risk aversion related to both European debt and potential conflict on the Korean peninsular. In terms of data, over the last few months US housing data has performed well after activity picked up following a very poor winter. New home sales data out today is expected to show an increase to 420,000 from 411,000 in April. In addition, durable goods data out later today is expected to show an increase. Call in now for a price – especially if you have US dollars to move into sterling as this seems like a great time to be doing this.

Elsewhere, sterling gained almost 2% against the Polish Zloty, as the currency suffered weakness related to the Euro zone. Also, data released in Australia overnight suggests that the Australian economy will expand at nearly 3 times its average growth rate after the annualised growth rate in the country jumped to 8.7% further boosting the case for more interest rate hikes to curb inflationary pressure. As a result, expect the Australian dollar to strengthen further against the pound. Get in touch now to plan a strategy for your payments.

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