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September 19, 2014

Sterling at a 2 year high – best time in years to buy a property in Spain

Filed under: Currency Information — Barrington Homes @ 9:33 pm

Sterling hits a 2 year record high reaching 1.27 against the Euro today. As property in Duquesa potentially hits its lowest levels in years now is the perfect time for British buyers to buy their dream home in Spain. The great news about the currency exchange rate means that the already great property bargains in Duquesa are now even cheaper for those who have Sterling to change to Euros.

Barrington Homes have a hand picked selection of great property bargains in Duquesa. Take a look at some of the best properties ! www.barringtonhomes.eu

July 6, 2014

GBP/EUR exchange rate the best for buying Euros since 2012 !

Filed under: Currency Information — Barrington Homes @ 9:31 pm

Great News for anyone wishing to buy a property in 2014 ! The GBP/EUR exchange rate has made a clear breach of 1.26, offering one of the best opportunities for buying Euros over the last 2 years. This means that anyone from the UK who wishes to exchange Pounds to Euros to buy a property will get even better ‘value’ for their overseas property purchase.

The ECB have also announced that they are committed to implementing unconventional monetary easing measures in the Eurozone to combat the threat of deflation in the future. This could be in the form of Quantitative Easing, which historically weakens the currency in question. With the UK economy performing well in recent months, whilst the Eurozone continues to post inconsistent data releases, the long-term view for GBP/EUR is that the rate will continue to rise. Currency Experts predict that we could see the Pound put pressure on 1.30 against the Euro by the end of this year.

Read more about currency excahnge and getting the best rate for currency conversions on Barrington Homes dedicated currency webpage.

August 19, 2013

Currencies Direct Weekly Market Analysis – Sterling maintains new found strength

Filed under: Currency Information — Lucy @ 11:52 am

Sterling maintains new found strength

August 18th, 2013

Welcome to your weekly market analysis email from Currencies Direct where you can stay one step ahead of your friends on the latest news and reviews of the financial markets. Our aim is to provide you with an easily digestible weekly update of how the financial market is performing using the expertise of your dealers who make it their sole aim to keep on top of the market movements.

GBP

Sterling has managed to retain its new found strength post the MPC meeting and BOE governor Mark Carney announcing a clear strategy to hold interest rates until unemployment gets to a level under the 7% barrier. However, markets have failed to be convinced by those signals as they expect a rate rise earlier than the Bank’s forecast of late 2016, implying that rates would have to increase sooner based on the consistently positive data that has come out this month. A slight pullback seems to be likely next week from current levels as the pound seems to have topped out on its recent run coupled with the lack of economic data to back it up as we move into next week.

USD

The data flow from the US continues to point to September tapering by the Federal Reserve, after retail sales and jobless claims show an economy grinding out a recovery and crucially not creating very much inflation in doing so. The Fed’s dual mandate intact, gradual withdrawal of the asset purchase scheme will probably be met with howls of derision by risk markets and may be Dollar positive in over the next quarter as stimulus is gradually taken away in Q4. Next week should a quiet one for the Dollar unless taper talk sparks major sell-off in risk assets. The annual Jackson Hole meeting of central bankers has been the platform the Fed used to launch successive QE programs; any announcements emanating from the conference are likely to impact the Dollar over the coming week.

EUR

It has been a good data week for the Eurozone too with confirmation that it has officially exited a recession. Germany and France were the main drivers of Eurozone growth in the second quarter with the periphery still struggling. Inflation in the Eurozone remained unchanged at 1.6% and the Eurozone recorder a trade surplus of 16.9 billion in June. The better numbers failed to follow through into Euro strength until a rally at the end of the week. Next week we have Euro PMI’s in both manufacturing and services and consumer confidence to look out for.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only. It is not intended as a recommendation to trade or a solicitation for funds. Currencies Direct cannot be held responsible for any loss or damages arising from any action taken following consideration of this information.

July 22, 2013

Currencies Direct Weekly Market Analysis

Filed under: Currency Information — Lucy @ 9:56 am

Weekly Market Analysis

Always keeping you informed for the week ahead

UK inflation rises to a 14 month high

July 21st, 2013
Welcome to your weekly market analysis email from Currencies Direct where you can stay one step ahead of your friends on the latest news and reviews of the financial markets. Our aim is to provide you with an easily digestible weekly update of how the financial market is performing using the expertise of your dealers who make it their sole aim to keep on top of the market movements.

GBP

Last week inflation figures out on Tuesday took centre stage. UK June CPI Inflation figure rose to a 14 month high at 2.9% below the 3% expectation. This started a tough session for Sterling, which weakened against both the Euro and the US dollar. Inflation has again hit the pockets of UK households with inflation stubbornly higher than average wage rises. The softer CPI data could leave Mark Carney further room for accommodative policy later in the year, especially as markets are predicting that the inflation should ease towards the end of the year. The CPI reading at 2.9% spared the incoming Governor of the Bank of England from writing a letter to the Treasury to explain why the level is so high. Last Wednesday the Bank of England’s rate-setting monetary policy committee voted unanimously to reject more QE earlier this month according to the minutes released. This was a first as this broke the regular stalemate which occurred during the last months of Sir Mervyn King’s time at the Bank. Sterling strengthened on the announcement. On other news out last week, claimant count dropped more than expected. The number of people without jobs fell by 57,000 between March and May against the previous three months, the Office for National Statistic revealed. On other reports out of the UK, retail sales grew 0.2%, which was less than expected in the month of June but on annualized basis spending growth accelerated to 2.2% from 2.1%.

EUR

Last week the Euro managed to shrug off a Fitch downgrade of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to AA+ from AAA and performed well on the back of USD weakness. The facility has previously been downgraded by Moodys and S&P reducing the impact of the move by Fitch. On other news the Euro zone’s current account surplus shrank from 23.8B to 19.6B in the month of May. It has been a quiet week for the Eurozone data and the bigget news out of Europe was the ECB’s decision to ease collateral rules. They cut the minimum rating for acceptable Asset Backed Securities to 2 A ratings from 2 AAA ratings and reduced the haircut for these assets to 10% from 16% and 22% from 26%. In doing so, the ECB is leaving more liquidity in the financial markets with the hopes that banks will lend but many remain sceptical on whether this would be effective.

USD

In prepared remarks to congress this week, Ben Bernanke raised concerns that inflation expectations have nudged lower, reinforcing the dovish tone emanating from the Fed’s last meeting. Alongside reiterating the expansive policy outlook, the main takeaway from the Fed Chairman’s time with Congress was that the Fed is in no rush to increase rates and while they intend to reduce QE, there is no set agenda for how that could happen. On the economic front, retail sales were in contrast with other better data out of the US last week coming in weaker than expected at 0.4% against the expectation of 0.8%. This rattled the USD, which lost earlier gains against the Euro and the Pound and strengthens the view that US data is still not strong enough to warrant tapering by September. Jobless claims declined for the week ended July 13th. However, continuing claims rose to 3.114 million from 3.023 million to its highest level in 5 months. Despite this we are still seeing gradual improvements in the labour market. The Philadelphia FED survey also surged from 12.5 to 19.8. The improvements in New York and Philadelphia manufacturing are consistent with the overall US recovery. Looking at the large banks results you can see signs of real recovery, with Citibank, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley posting large increases in profits in the last quarter. Moody’s also raised the US’s credit outlook from negative to stable on the day when Detroit filed for the largest municipal bankruptcy in history. It will be interesting to see how the proceedings develop because several other US cities are not too far behind.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only. It is not intended as a recommendation to trade or a solicitation for funds. Currencies Direct cannot be held responsible for any loss or damages arising from any action taken following consideration of this information.

Head office:

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July 8, 2013

Currencies Direct Weekly Market Analysis

Filed under: Currency Information — Lucy @ 2:02 pm
Currencies Direct Weekly Market AnalysisThe Carney Effect BeginsJuly 5th, 2013
Welcome to your weekly market analysis email from Currencies Direct where you can stay one step ahead of your friends on the latest news and reviews of the financial markets. Our aim is to provide you with an easily digestible weekly update of how the financial market is performing using the expertise of your dealers who make it their sole aim to keep on top of the market movements.USDThe US Dollar has been the biggest winner this week with all roads pointing to a strong confidence and recovery coming from stateside. It started the week as it meant to go on, with ISM Manufacturing Index hitting a 3 month high on Monday and another fall in the unemployment figures adding further weight to help sink GBP/USD and EUR/USD further towards their 2013 lows. It was Independence day on Thursday, and with the help of the dovish central bank releases from Europe on Thursday, the US Dollar was riding high before all eyes were squarely focussed on Friday’s Non-Farm Payroll figure. The expectations were that the US Jobs market had grown by a steady 165k jobs but, as is normally the case with America, bigger is better and a figure of 195k new jobs were created in June. This instantly strengthened the US Dollar against its UK and European counterparts pushing cable down to 1.4856 and EUR/USD to test the 1.28 barrier. All in all, market expectations are that the Fed will taper its current monetary stimulus in September and with data continuing to show positive signs then it is likely that USD strength is here to stay… For a while at least.

GBP

This week marked Mark Carney’s first week at the helm of the Bank of England. The markets expected a change in policy from the central bank and that is exactly what Mr Carney delivered, suggesting forward guidance on monetary policy will start to be used from August onwards. The Pound remains under real pressure across the board but particularly against the USD as both the BoE and ECB look to counter tapering talk on the other side of the Atlantic. It looks as though we are entering an interesting time for currencies, as central banks finally begin to follow slightly divergent policies.

EUR

The ECB also coincidentally told the markets that rates will stay low for an extended period, very importantly suggested the decision to offer the forward guidance was surprisingly unanimous and they also discussed lowering rates again at this meeting. The European Central Bank had a tough juggling act today to reassure the markets that the slow recovery is intact and that it is ready to act and has the tools required to act if needed to support the economy. Recent data from Germany and France have been encouraging but concerns from Portugal serve to underline the pressures that are still bubbling in the periphery.

The two announcements of the ECB and BoE taken together can be seen as a clear push back by Central banks on this side of the Atlantic to the Federal Reserve tapering announcement last month. This has led to a slide in both the pound and the euro against the greenback.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only. It is not intended as a recommendation to trade or a solicitation for funds. Currencies Direct cannot be held responsible for any loss or damages arising from any action taken following consideration of this information.

 

July 1, 2013

Currencies Direct Weekly Market Analysis

Filed under: Currency Information — Lucy @ 10:08 am

Weekly Market Analysis by www.currenciesdirect.com

Always keeping you informed for the week ahead

Equities move higher in Europe and USA

June 30th, 2013
Welcome to your weekly market analysis email from Currencies Direct where you can stay one step ahead of your friends on the latest news and reviews of the financial markets. Our aim is to provide you with an easily digestible weekly update of how the financial market is performing using the expertise of your dealers who make it their sole aim to keep on top of the market movements.

USD

As the markets are over reliant on fast and easy money it is not unusual for a kneejerk reaction to occur when the taps are turned off. This negative sentiment hit Chinese stocks for a second day at the beginning of last week as the Shanghai composite lost another 0.2%(from a low of 6%) as global fears of a fall in growth alongside an apparent credit crisis from China start to become very real. As China’s demand for raw materials continues to falter, it is likely commodity currencies, such as AUD and ZAR, will continue to take the hit. It wasn’t until last Thursday that risk appetite returned to the markets. Equities moved higher in both Europe and the US following comforting comments from Central Bank members at the ECB and the FED. Mario Draghi along with other ECB members stated that an “exit” from current policy is distant. In addition comments from the US came someway to easing fears of a near term tapering of stimulus. In addition China’s interbank rates eased reducing tension. On the macroeconomic data front, US durable goods data came in better than expected at 3.6% against the expectation of a 3% number and in addition US housing data came out in line with expectations. Initial jobless claims in the US declined last week, according to data released by the Department of Labour. According to the figures, the number of people who applied for unemployment fell by 9,000 to 346,000 in June which is in line with the consensus. The continued good run in US economic data raises the expectations that the Federal Reserve will look to taper monetary easing by September, although we will also need to see continued strength in the labour market. The fact that the markets are looking to US data as an indicator for the timing of the Fed’s tapering is raising uncertainty in the markets and volatility. The USD is gaining strength on the back of the good numbers but the main focus will be on next week’s non-farm payroll data.

GBP

In Britain, new figures suggested that the UK never suffered a double-dip recession in 2012 but suffered a deeper collapse in output following the global financial crisis than previously thought. The new data shows that the economy is even further away from a full recovery. The Office for National Statistics had previously suggested that the economy shrank by 0.1% between the last quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012 but has now decided last year that growth was flat. The ONS said, however, that the first post-crunch recession in 2008/2009 was deeper than first estimated, meaning that economic output is now 3.9% lower than its pre-crash peak, compared with a previous estimate of 2.6%. Mark Carney takes over from Sir Mervyn King on Monday and he will be under pressure to take more action than his predecessor. Despite the impact of the global financial crisis, UK has shown considerable improvement suggesting that growth in Q2 will likely be much stronger. Therefore the currency markets were torn between trading the disappointing past or the promising future. Cable slid to a low of 1.5265 in the aftermath of the news, but has since stabilized just below the 1.5300 figure as traders await the start of North American trade.

EUR

Last week EU finance ministers thrashed out a deal in relation to failing banks making it clear that “shareholders and creditors are liable first and foremost” and this move pushes the Euro area one step closer towards a euro banking union. In yet another European meeting, the EU leaders agreed on new steps to fight youth unemployment and promote lending to small business after deals on banking resolution and the long-term EU budget gave their summit a much needed lift. The 27 leaders resolved to spend 6 billion euros over the next two years to support job creation, training and apprenticeships for young people. Leaders also approved plans for the European Investment Bank to lend hundreds of billions of euros to small and medium-sized enterprises particularly in southern EU states where bank finance has largely dried up due to the Euro zone’s debt crisis. In other news out of the Euro Zone, businesses sentiment improved in June showing their best reading in over a year. Despite the confidence indices are still in negative territory, many parts of the economy saw an improvement.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only. It is not intended as a recommendation to trade or a solicitation for funds. Currencies Direct cannot be held responsible for any loss or damages arising from any action taken following consideration of this information.

Head office:

Currencies Direct Ltd
51 Moorgate, London, EC2R 6BH, United Kingdom
T: +44(0)20 7847 9400 · F: +44(0)20 7847 9291
E:info@currenciesdirect.com
www.currenciesdirect.com

© Currencies Direct Ltd 2000-2013. All rights reserved worldwide. Privacy policy | Terms of use
Authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority

May 28, 2013

Last weeks currency market analysis from Currencies Direct

Filed under: Currency Information — Lucy @ 5:56 pm
Another busy week for SterlingMay 26th, 2013
Welcome to your weekly market analysis email from Currencies Direct where you can stay one step ahead of your friends on the latest news and reviews of the financial markets. Our aim is to provide you with an easily digestible weekly update of how the financial market is performing using the expertise of your dealers who make it their sole aim to keep on top of the market movements.GBP

It was another busy week for Sterling from the opening bell on Monday morning to the end of the trading week in the U.K. on Friday as the currency struggled to consolidate loses against most major currencies. Sterling started the week on a high from, Bank of England Governor, Sir Mervyn King’s rather bullish comments on inflation and growth forecasts for the UK but the inflation figure on Tuesday put pressure on the pound as the figure came in under expectation as the markets see greater scope for further monetary stimulus moving into the new governors tenure in July. This led to investors becoming Sterling averse knocking the currency back below 1.17 on GBP/EUR and below 1.51 on GBP/USD. Retail sales on Wednesday also knocked confidence in Sterling as the April reading missed the target growth level by 1.3%. The annual IMF report, released on Wednesday, continued to undermine Chancellor Osborne’s austerity first approach to the U.K.’s recovery as it called for interest rates and money policy to remain very low and easy but called for increased investment on infrastructure to help propel the nation to sustainable growth. However, there was a sigh of relief on Thursday as it was confirmed the preliminary GDP figure of 0.3% growth was correct. This has helped Sterling finish the weak on a strong foot before the bank holiday weekend. Next week will be quiet for Sterling but the bigger data releases will be the Nationwide House Price Index and mortgage lending and approvals figures.

EUR

The Euro spent the week out of the spotlight, with attention focused on the Dollar, Yen and Sterling. German GDP came in as expected thanks to consumer spending holding steady. There was a slight improvement is eurozone PMI figures but overall they are still showing contracting business activity. Friday marked a rare positive after German business climate data beat expectations, lifting the single currency in late trading against Sterling. Next week the highlights come from Germany with unemployment and CPI due at the beginning of the week.

USD

This week witnessed the FOMC meeting from the US, where Fed chairman Ben Bernanke was quite upbeat about the US economy. In the wake of this, he further announced that the Fed is willing to pull back the foot off the pedal and scale back their asset purchases program at any time, as the Fed may deem fit. This has helped the Greenback maintain overall strength against most of its major counterparts. The minutes from the meeting revealed most hawks at the Fed are calling for quantitative easing to be tapered down as soon as June. With a division between the hawks and the doves, quite typically, the markets have been fuelled by uncertainty, with a concrete decision being pushed back until next month. Bernanke’s initial statement sparked a risk rally for assets, only to retrace the bullish run by saying that the purchases could be reduced as early as June. However, expect the USD to regain quite a bit of strength into the coming week, as Bernanke’s control over the Fed has been noted and acclaimed in the fact that the Fed is supporting the economy and the financial markets and will continue the asset buying programme (stimulus) for now as it is in the best interests for the economy.

The contents of this report are for information purposes only. It is not intended as a recommendation to trade or a solicitation for funds. Currencies Direct cannot be held responsible for any loss or damages arising from any action taken following consideration of this information.