Good morning. Yesterday\u2019s euro deal boosted market sentiments globally. Equity markets around the world gained while major currencies gained against the greenback as risk appetite improved. More positive news came from the other side of the Atlantic. US GDP for the third quarter grew at a faster 2.5% annualised rate, while personal consumption jumped 2.4% in Q3 compared with only 0.7% in Q2. The trend should get stronger as the festive season draws closer.<\/p>\n
Bond yields across the Europe dropped yesterday, in line with the positive sentiments after yesterday\u2019s deal. Italian bonds yield had dropped in the morning, only to rise again in the afternoon. The reason cited was the lack of new austerity measures to cut the budget deficit and the ongoing political instability under the stewardship of colourful Berlusconi. This is important since Italy is slated to raise about \u20ac7.25 billion through auctions of different maturity bonds. If the 10 year maturity securities clip the 6% mark, then the Euro rally may come to an end. On a positive note, there has been some clarity over China\u2019s participation in the EFSF fund expansion. Unidentified Chinese officials, close to the communist regime said China may end up buying European bonds worth $100 billion. However, state Xinhua news agency said the EU should find its way out of the crisis rather than depending upon \u201cgood Samaritan\u201d for bailout packages.<\/p>\n
GBP\/EURO \u2013 1.1356
\nGBP\/US$ \u2013 1.6054
\nGBP\/CHF \u2013 1.3887
\nGBP\/CAN$ – 1.5961
\nGBP\/AUS$ \u2013 1.5072
\nGBP\/ZAR \u2013 12.4542
\nGBP\/JPY \u2013 121.95
\nGBP\/HKD \u2013 12.4958
\nGBP\/NZD \u2013 1.9656
\nGBP\/SEK \u2013 10.2248<\/p>\n