What will this week be like for sterling against the euro and US dollar, after a 1% or more drop between Monday evening and Friday morning last week?
The pound has remained stable, and even recovered a little since then, but those same pressures remain. Which are, mainly: signs of a weakening economy in the UK, plus investors putting their money into safer assets like the dollar as fears over the Middle East crisis spreads.
Where will it go next? See what the experts in the world’s leading financial institutions predict for the pound, euro and dollar in our brand new Quarterly Forecast. You can download it here. I should put “experts” in inverted commas, because in reality your guess is as good as theirs as to what exchange rates will be by either this Christmas or next. Still, the analysis makes for interesting reading. We also look at the Israeli shekel, Brazilian real and South African rand.
Back to this week, and there are several readings that could well move the dials, and they all happen tomorrow.
Therefore, if you are committed to a large overseas transaction, today would be an excellent day to call your trader on 020 8108 5163 and discuss fixing your rate so you know exactly how much you have to spend abroad. In today’s world, peace of mind is a commodity in very short supply.
Those readings start at 7am with the UK unemployment rate. Signs of worsening unemployment, which should be a given after 14 consecutive interest rate rises, but probably aren’t, could well hit sterling.
So too, could the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) coming out at 9.30am tomorrow, as it gives a snapshot about how business leaders view their economic prospects.
And so could the CBI’s Business Optimism Index and Industrial Trends report at 11am tomorrow.
Plenty to consider then, this week. Why not make that call to your trader before it all happens?
