Sterling navigated an alarming inflation report to reach its highest mark against the euro since the end of 2024. A volatile trading session for GBP/USD pushed the pound down by the best part of half a cent as markets awaited the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve’s main committee.
Those minutes painted a picture of slower interest rate cuts. Officials agreed that they required evidence of “further progress on inflation” before they cut interest rates. The US dollar was stable after the publication but stock markets shed a little value into the overnight Asian session.
London’s house prices did not increase across 2024, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Those figures were in stark contrast to prices across the rest of Britain, which climbed by average rate of 4.6% in the twelve months to December.
Some mixed data from the American construction industry arrived yesterday. On the one hand, a significantly higher than expected result in the building permit study pointed to impressive future growth. However, that was countered by a slump in housing starts – the physical, shovel-in-ground part of the equation.
With just over a month to go until the chancellor’s spring statement, rumours are swirling that Rachel Reeves could be planning on announcing tax increases, notably to savings pots like ISAs. Senior executives from asset managers yesterday urged her to scrap the tax-free cash ISA scheme to promote more investment in the UK stock market.
The Donald Trump soap opera rumbled on as the US president completed his country’s remarkable diplomatic about-face to blame Ukraine for the war. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Trump of living in a “disinformation bubble” as tensions continued to escalate.
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