The US dollar sank to its lowest ebb in four months yesterday and its weakest since July against the pound.
After the Greenland saga brought about its worst week since May, the US dollar continued to struggle even as other traditional safe-haven assets – including gold, silver and the Swiss franc – recorded a strong start on Monday.
Even a strong showing in November’s durable goods report wasn’t enough to arrest its slide. New orders soared by 5.3% month-on-month after a noteworthy rebound for transportation equipment. Electronics and non-defence items also increased from October.
The German economy is expected to perform well this year after the government’s budget passed back in November. That didn’t stop the Institute for Economic Research’s (Ifo) business climate survey remaining unchanged in January, defying expectations of a slight improvement.
Here in the UK, the political fallout from the prime minister’s decision to block Manchester mayor Andy Burnham from standing in an upcoming by-election rumbled on. There was drama on the other side of the House of Commons too, as prominent Tory Suella Braverman announced her defection to Reform UK.
After a U-turn over the business rates paid by UK publicans, Rachel Reeves is reportedly set to announce a support package worth £100m today. The chancellor has heeded the uproar from the industry but hasn’t extended her largesse to the restaurants, cafes and hotels, which had been hoping for help under the same package.
While Monday was light on economic news, this week sees a major schedule of earnings reports from the ‘magnificent seven’ tech firms, including Apple, Meta and Microsoft. The Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision comes tomorrow evening and will be an interesting chance for the US dollar to stop its slide.
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