A resurgent euro knocked GBP/EUR back to its lowest level since December 2023 last week. The figures don’t make pretty reading for anyone looking to buy euros: GBP/EUR fell by more than 2% in five days and has lost around 3.5% since the start of April.
What does all this mean for your budget? Well, if you had bought a €300,000 holiday home on the Costa Blanca on Friday, it would have cost £5,000 more than the day before and a whopping £11,000 more than if you had bought on 1 April. Those figures are a stark reminder of what’s at stake.
But we’re not all doom and gloom here. The good news is we’re always able to help protect your money from risks, which do seem to be piling up these days. We strongly recommend you remove the threat to your budget now by locking in today’s GBP/EUR rate. You’ll be able to reach your account manager to do this on 020 8003 4915.
For more information on all these themes (and perhaps a bit of light, pre-Easter reading), be sure to grab your copy of our April-June Quarterly Forecast. It’s free, informative and packed with powerful charts that help you make sense of the ongoing madness.
On Friday, we heard that the UK economy grew by 0.5% in February. This was a significant boost given most people expected little movement, if any. That at least helped sterling stabilise against the euro and shoot up again against the US dollar, which is enduring a torrid time.
Speaking of which, consumer sentiment in the United States plunged again this month. Part of the reason this data is so important is because it is a useful predictor of household spending, a real driver of the US economy. Falling sentiment usually means fewer tills ringing and less growth on the horizon.
Even in a shortened week there’s still plenty to move markets. The UK’s unemployment and inflation reports are likely to impact sterling, while the European Central Bank (ECB) announce their latest interest rate decision Thursday lunchtime.
