Category: Daily blog

Dollar firmer after Fed minutes

The dollar has gained some ground following the release of the minutes of the Fed meeting earlier this month, at which interest rates were cut by 25bps for a third time since September. The minutes noted that, while a further reduction in rates was still likely if inflation declined as expected, some members felt it […]

Pound edging higher versus euro

The euro is trading at around $1.1775 against the dollar this morning, in line with last week’s closing levels. Sterling remains above $1.35 against the US currency and continues to edge higher against the euro, trading just above £0.87. Government bond yields were little changed yesterday, dipping by just a couple of basis points across […]

Main currency pairs little changed

The main currency pairs are little changed from yesterday morning’s levels notwithstanding stronger than expected GDP data in the US – the economy expanded by more than 1% q-o-q in Q3, driven by robust growth in consumer spending – with EURUSD and EURGBP trading at around $1.18 and £0.8725 respectively this morning and GBPUSD still […]

Dollar on the back foot

The dollar has started the holiday-shortened week under pressure, losing ground across the board. The euro has jumped to around $1.1790, at the top of  the relatively narrow trading range ($1.17 to $1.18) that has prevailed over the past couple of weeks or so. Sterling – which has generally been on the front foot since […]

Sterling gains some ground

The Bank of England’s “cautious” rate cut helped sterling chalk up modest gains against the dollar and euro last week, with the pound trading just north of $1.34 and just under £0.8750 respectively at the start of play today. The single currency lost some ground to the dollar on the week, notwithstanding the ECB keeping […]

Dollar firmer this morning

The ECB left interest rates unchanged yesterday, as expected, and seems set to remain on hold for an extended period. The Bank of England cut rates by 25bps but expressed caution about further reductions. Inflation in the US came in much lower than expected in November but may have been biased down because of issues […]

ECB to hold, BoE to cut

The euro and sterling have both moved up off yesterday morning’s lows against the dollar to trade circa half a cent higher at about $1.1740 and $1.3370 respectively, leaving EURGBP still hovering just below £0.88, ahead of today’s ECB and Bank of England (BoE) interest rate announcements. The ECB is expected to leave the deposit […]

Dollar rebounds

Yesterday’s jobs report in the US was, on balance, slightly softer than forecast but didn’t alter market expectations for near-term Fed monetary policy, with another rate cut still not fully priced in until well into next year. The dollar fell to its lowest levels of the day immediately following the release of the data but […]

Jobs report in the US today

The main currency pairs aren’t doing an awful lot ahead of today’s key jobs report in the US. The euro did trade up to a post-Fed meeting high of about $1.1770 against the dollar yesterday and is hovering around there this morning. Sterling is trading just below $1.34 against the US currency and at about […]

ECB and BoE meetings this week

The dollar and sterling both lost some ground to the euro last week, largely related to the differing monetary policy stances of the main central banks. While the Fed and Bank of England (BoE) are in easing mode with the BoE likely to follow last week’s Fed interest rate cut with a 25bps reduction of […]