Sterling slipped against a slightly stronger euro yesterday after investors held back on selling the single currency ahead of today\u2019s European Central Bank interest rate policy meeting. Earlier in the day, sterling stopped just shy of the \u20ac1.20\/\u00a31 mark, hitting \u20ac1.1995\/\u00a31 as purchasing manager data for the UK manufacturing sector came in far better than expected. However, ahead of today\u2019s ECB meeting, investors scaled back on the amount of \u2018short positions\u2019 (i.e. bets against the euro) in case the meeting revealed something that brought euro strength. The manufacturing data did help sterling recover some ground against the US dollar, reaching a daily high of $1.5649\/\u00a31 after dropping to a 2 month low of $1.5485\/\u00a31 on Tuesday. In terms of data released today, there is construction purchasing manager data which could cause similar movement, so get in touch now to ensure you don\u2019t lose out.<\/p>\n
In the Euro zone, there was a level of respite in the European bond markets yesterday which helped the euro recover some ground against sterling and US dollar. On Tuesday, bonds for \u2018peripheral\u2019 Euro zone countries (Spain, Portugal and Italy) took a veritable hammering as investors speculated that these countries would also need bailouts in the coming months. Despite this respite, many analysts still expect the euro to continue on a downward to trend against sterling, so if you are still holding euros with a view to moving them into sterling, now might be a good time to think about exchanging them.<\/p>\n
In the USA, the US dollar fell by over 1% against the euro ahead of the ECB\u2019s interest rate meeting today in which many analysts speculated that the European Bank would announce measures to prevent further bailouts from crippling the region. In addition, there were also rumours that the USA would help support the region with higher contributions to the International Monetary Fund. There is US unemployment figures released today, so call in now for a live exchange rate.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, the euro\u2019s rise yesterday also saw other \u2018high risk\u2019 currencies post gains. The Australian dollar climbed by 0.6% against both the US dollar and sterling despite falling earlier in the day on poor economic figures. South African rand gained by 1.2% against sterling after similar risk related buying.<\/p>\n
EURO\/GBP<\/strong> – 1.1871
\nUS$\/GBP<\/strong> \u2013 1.5607
\nCHF\/GBP<\/strong> \u2013 1.5645
\nCAN$\/GBP<\/strong> – 1.5836
\nAUS$\/GBP<\/strong> \u2013 1.6138
\nZAR\/GBP<\/strong> \u2013 10.903
\nJPY\/GBP<\/strong> \u2013\u00a0131.065
\nHKD\/GBP<\/strong> \u2013\u00a012.129
\nNZD\/GBP<\/strong> \u2013 2.069
\nSEK\/GBP<\/strong> \u2013 10.878
\nUS$\/EURO<\/strong> – 1.3139<\/p>\n