Good morning and welcome to today\u2019s foreign exchange market commentary on Tuesday the 10th of January.<\/p>\n
Yesterday\u2019s meeting between Chancellor Merkel and President Sarkozy yielded very little result on the ground. There was a talk of fiscal union treaty among EU members being signed by the end of January or at the latest by March this year. However, there was an unexpected turn over the Fiscal Transaction Tax \u2013 an issue that had kicked off a controversy forcing Prime Minister Cameron to veto the move to protect the City of London\u2019s position, as Chancellor Merkel announcing her own party is divided on the issue. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe don’t have an agreement on this within the government, but personally I will campaign for (it),\u201d Ms Merkel said a on the proposed FTT.<\/p>\n
Earlier Mr. Sarkozy, who faces elections in April, said it remained his top priority and a separate plan for French FTT will be presented by January end. \u201cIf we don’t show the example, it will not be done,\u201d he said while meeting Ms Merkel in Berlin in a pre-summit meeting.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the British Chambers of Commerce in its quarterly survey warned that the UK risks significant slowdown due to the eurozone crisis and if the government doesn\u2019t take immediate steps to restore market confidence, the economy may shrink further. UK manufacturing and services sector have witnessed broad-based weakness in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the economic recovery was stalling, the report observed. \u201cWith confidence falling, every effort must be made to avert recession,\u201d said BCC\u2019s chief economist David Kern.<\/p>\n
GBP\/EURO \u2013 1.2101
\nGBP\/US$ \u2013 1.5478
\nGBP\/CHF \u2013 1.4675
\nGBP\/CAN$ – 1.5773
\nGBP\/AUS$ \u2013 1.5017
\nGBP\/ZAR \u2013 12.5861
\nGBP\/JPY \u2013 118.74
\nGBP\/HKD \u2013 12.0005
\nGBP\/NZD \u2013 1.9508
\nGBP\/SEK \u2013 10.6642<\/p>\n