Posts Tagged ‘pound sterling’

Sterling slipped to a five-week low against the euro on Monday (September 26), as lingering worries over the economic impact of Britain’s impending exit from the European Union weighed on the currency.

The pound also traded close to a five-week low against the dollar at $1.2985, leaving it less than two cents away from the three-decade low below $1.28 it plumbed in the wake of June’s Brexit vote.

After hitting that low in July, sterling gained 5 percent versus the dollar by early September, as data showed the post-referendum economy holding up better than had been feared. But with parliament back from its summer recess, Brexit worries have come back into investors’ radar and have dampened appetite for the currency.

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Sterling steadied on Monday (September 12) after its first week of losses in four, with traders debating whether the currency had topped out for the moment as they awaited a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve board member Lael Brainard.

The pound dipped last week against the dollar and euro but has broadly done well in the past month as a handful of economic indicators suggested the UK economy was holding up better than expected after June’s vote to leave the European Union.

It was up roughly 0.3 percent at $1.3304 and 84.37 pence per euro by 3.30pm on Monday (September 12).

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Speculators that are the most bearish on sterling in nearly 25 years may be vindicated by a report published on Monday (August 1) showing Brexit is probably hitting Britain harder than markets previously envisaged.

Sterling declined versus most of its 16 major peers as the data showed UK manufacturing shrank more than initially forecast in July.

Hedge funds and other large speculators ran the biggest net short positions, or bets on the currency’s decline, since records began amid speculation that the Bank of England will cut interest rates for the first time in more than seven years on Thursday, August 4 to head off the risk of recession.

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The pound fell even as a report showed the UK’s annual inflation rate rose more in June than economists forecast.

Sterling weakened versus most of its 16 major peers. UK consumer prices climbed 0.5 per cent last month from a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said in London. Analysts had expected the rate to rise to 0.4 per cent, from 0.3 per cent in May, according to the median estimate in a survey by news agency Bloomberg. The Bank of England’s 2 per cent inflation target was last reached in December 2013.

The Bank of England signalled last week it is readying stimulus for August as the economy reels from Britain’s decision to quit the European Union. Minutes of the BOE’s July meeting showed most members of the Monetary Policy Committee expect policy to be loosened next month.

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Sterling was firmer on Wednesday (July 13), trading near a two-week high against the euro as Theresa May was set to take over as Britain’s prime minister, easing some of the political uncertainty that has dogged the currency in the past few weeks.

Traders will keep an eye on who will be appointed as finance minister with many awaiting for clarity on the new prime minister’s detailed thinking on triggering Article 50, the procedure for exiting the European Union.

May has said “Brexit means Brexit”, but added Britain will not rush to trigger the formal divorce proceedings. The uncertainty over whether Britain will be able to retain access to the single market after exiting the EU, along with expectations that the Bank of England could cut rates on Thursday (July 14), are likely to make traders wary of sterling.

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The pound tumbled to a new 31-year low on Wednesday (July 6), at one point dipping below $1.28, on fears over the effect of last month’s Brexit vote on Britain’s property market and the prospect of cuts in Bank of England interest rates.

The pound, one of the main vehicles through which financial markets can express concern about Britain’s decision to leave the European Union, fell as low as $1.2798 in Asian trading, its lowest since June 1985. It recovered to about $1.2891 in afternoon trading in London.

That still left it more than 13 per cent weaker than it was before the June 23 referendum, and about 1 per cent lower on the day.

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Prime Minister David Cameron has said Thursday’s (June 23) referendum on Britain’s membership of the European Union was likely to be very close but he also predicted a “remain dividend” in investments if Britons voted to stay in the 28-nation bloc.

With just two days to go until the referendum that will shape the future of Europe, opinion polls have indicated that British public opinion is so divided that the outcome is too close to call.

Meanwhile, Swiss investment bank UBS warned its clients on Tuesday (June 21) it may fail to execute some orders on its electronic trading platform should this week’s Brexit referendum affect liquidity or cause extreme volatility.

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The pound rallied the most in three weeks after a poll of UK voters released on Monday showed people who support a campaign to remain in the European Union exceeded those saying they will vote to leave by a wider margin than last month.

Sterling rose against most of its 16 major peers after the ORB/Telegraph poll showed 55 percent of respondents were in favour of remaining in the European Union, while 40 percent wanted to leave.

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An optimistic quarterly inflation report from the Bank of England on Wednesday saw Sterling surge on the Forex markets, with well-placed online traders taking good advantage of the announcement.

The Bank’s Governor, Mark Carney, commented that economic recovery was taking hold in the UK and the Bank’s projections for growth were moving forward, with next year’s annual growth expected to reach 2.8%, up 0.3% from the projection made in August.
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Standard and Poor’s Confirms that UK will keep its AAA Rating in a Move which Leaves Forex Traders Divided

There has been much talk of a double dip recession following the disappointing UK growth figures released earlier this week and concerns had been growing that the UK would imminently lose its AAA rating as it became only the second industrialised nation to fall back into recession.
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The Royal Mint highlights the celebration of London Olympics 2012 by releasing an edition of the 50 pence coin, with the football’s offside rule explained on the back side.

The designer Neil Wolfson says “If I had 50p for every time someone asked what the offside rule was, then I would be very rich.”

In United Kingdom there were an estimated 28 million coins circulating as of 30 March 2010.

The fifty pence (50p) coin was first introduced in year 1969, replacing the old ten shilling note. However, in the 1990s the size of the 5p, 10p and 50p coins were reduced. Therefore the oldest 50p coins in circulation are from 1997.

The Royal Mint is the body with permission to mint (manufacture) coins in the United Kingdom. Since 2009 the Royal Mint operates as a company through Royal Mint Ltd, with an exclusive contract with HM Treasury to supply all coinage for the UK. The Royal Mint Limited is 100% owned by HM Treasury (more known as just ‘The Treasury’).

Sterling Pound against US Dollar is now in an up-trend after bottoming at 1.4425. How long will it continue? Let us look at the latest currency graph for GBP/USD.

Current intraday support levels are at 1.5589 and 1.5710, while weekly resistance levels are at 1.6460 and 1.70. It’s no secret that many analysts expect Sterling to rise against the dollar. If the US economy continue to show poor statistics, we believe GBP will rise sooner rather then later.

What do you think about the latest strength for GBP? Will it continue or break down?

After reaching 6 month high last week, pound sterling is now falling to it’s lowest lever in more than a week. Reason: Data signals Britain is not recovering as quick as expected.

Housing market slows down

The first decline in property prices appeared in July, showing a slower sales growth then previous months. Sterling fell to $1.5740 in London afternoon trading hours.

Analysts such as John Hydeskov, Danske Bank, believe Sterling is overbought and should have a correction. He suggest buying Norwegian krone instead..

After a few days of discussions, many observers believe Tories and Liberal Democrats are forming a coalition government in United Kingdom. Currency analysts are now relieved that Gordon Brown seems to step down as Labours leader from September this year.

The new government are likely to cut borrowing sooner then a Labour government would and in general, it should do well for the economy and the british currency. Forex analysts already predict a hung parliment between conservatives and liberal democrats and they seem to like it – pound sterling rose by almost 1 % today. Interest rates (more…)

The pound sterling has been declining during most of this year, but maybe we are about to see a turning point now?

As you can see in the GBP minute graph, the Pound Sterling have been increasing against US Dollar before Easter holidays starts.

In the longer forex charts for GBP/USD, it looks like the GBP (more…)