Sterling’s rise against the US dollar has continued through the week and it now stands well over 2% stronger than last Friday.
Against the euro the rise has been similar, but yesterday’s strong gains have been pared back slightly this morning.
The big news from the business world is the USA falling into a ‘technical recession’, following two quarters of falling GDP. This has caused the dollar to weaken against all of its major and many of its minor competitors. President Biden blamed the recession on the Fed raising interest rates rapidly to beat inflation, and the predicted damage to the economy could mean that rates are hiked more slowly in future.
On the other hand, data this morning from Europe has shown French and Spanish GDP rising well in advance of expectations, at 0.5% and 1.1% respectively.
In Germany, measures to control energy use have started, with some regions switching off spotlights on public monument s and cold showers in municipal swimming pools.
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