Good morning.<\/p>\n
Volatility was back yesterday as Italy is in focus amid speculations it will not be able to survive the debt burden under the current PM Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian parliament is scheduled to pass further austerity measures today and if the ruling party fails to get the fiscal reforms passed, chants for Berlusconi\u2019s resignation may grow louder. However, it\u2019s difficult to write the man off since he\u2019s the ultimate survivor \u2013 has come out unscathed after 12 no-confidence motions in the last eleven months.<\/p>\n
Retail sales figure released yesterday showed a drop of 0.7% for the month of September with a bigger drop in non-food sales. To make matters worse, German industrial production fell to their lowest since February 2009. Many analysts believe that the region is slowing slipping into recession again. Data coming out from the UK failed to cheer as well. British Retail Consortium\u2019s data showed like-for-like sales dropped by 0.6% against an expected drop of 0.2%. However, data released by the Royal.<\/p>\n
Institute of Chartered Surveyors showed housing activity has moved upwards, albeit slightly.<\/p>\n
Europe is expected to witness loads of auctions today with Greece, Belgium, Austria and Netherlands tapping the debt markets for funds.<\/p>\n
GBP\/EURO \u2013 1.1658
\nGBP\/US$ \u2013 1.6052
\nGBP\/CHF \u2013 1.4511
\nGBP\/CAN$ – 1.6322
\nGBP\/AUS$ \u2013 1.5568
\nGBP\/ZAR \u2013 12.7680
\nGBP\/JPY \u2013 125.34
\nGBP\/HKD \u2013 12.4861
\nGBP\/NZD \u2013 2.0170
\nGBP\/SEK \u2013 10.5642<\/p>\n