A cold helplessness swept throughout the global economy as manufacturing PMI’s simultaneously disappointed, some in spectacular fashion. Manufacturing PMI data for China fell to 49.2 from 50.1 with Markit PMI falling to 47.6, (measures small cap manufacturing) the lowest levels since the global crisis began. The Chinese have not been slow to ease policy in the past but it would appear that merely cutting interest rates further isn’t enough. The PBOC will have to delve deeper into their box of tricks to turn things around.

European PMI figures all decorated in red, mostly showed a slowdown in contraction vs July’s figures but solid contraction none the less. Figures from the UK were a lot more palatable showing only slight decline, 49.5 vs 45.2 in July. Retail sales for August came in at -0.4% vs -0.5% (exp). The BoE is still in the middle of its asset purchasing scheme so the marginal benefits are yet to be fully realised on the books.

It begs the question, that amidst all the current political agenda which sees bond-buying, banking supervision and ESM leveraging at the fore front, where is the investment going to come from to help industrial and manufacturing output in the longer term? The above measures, while vitally important and worthy of being top of the agenda, (considering the very imminent contagion risk from Spain and Greece) are essentially liquidity measures for the struggling sovereigns. There needs to be vision beyond this put in place. Capital investment plans/incentives need to be initiated to boost growth. Yesterdays figures will spark debate as to the more long term vision of the ECB.

Labor day did remove the liquidity from the market and any real chance of any price movements. We saw a flicker of movement in EUR yesterday when word emerged that Mario Draghi was hard at work strategising how to best calm markets this upcoming Thursday. GBPEUR broke below 1.26, a level it has been flirting with recently, but as of yet with no degree of permanence. Plans to buy up 3 year bonds kicked off debate as to the legality of the ECB’s plans. As we know the ECB is currently unable to directly recapitalise banks as well as directly financing governments. The ECB confirmed that its proposed plan to purchase 3 year debt doesn’t constitute state aid and is not acting in violation of its mandate. Further debate is likely to ensue.

US markets will be keen to get their teeth into things today and US PMI and a sale of 3 and 6 month treasuries should hit the spot nicely. Median targets should see the sector expand but as we saw yesterday target setting was loose and inaccurate.

Good Luck

World First is going to Tanzania to build a school with Childreach and we’re currently raising funds for the building materials required. We’d really appreciate any donation you might be able to make. We’ll keep you updated on our efforts once we return! You can make a donation via this link here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/worldfirst?

Latest exchange rates at time of writing

Indicative Rates Sell Buy
GBPEUR 1.2605 1.2630
GBPUSD 1.5890 1.5920
EURUSD 1.2605 1.2625
GBPJPY 124.55 124.85
GBPAUD 1.5470 1.5500
GBPNZD 1.9910 1.9940
GBPCAD 1.5650 1.5680
NZDUSD 0.7965 0.7995
GBPZAR 13.2750 13.3235
USDZAR 8.3430 8.3810
GBPPLN 5.2665 5.2930
EURJPY 98.80 99.10

Please note these rates are “interbank” rates ie they indicate where the market is currently trading and are not indicative of the rates offered by World First. Rates are dependent on amount transacted. It is important to remember that foreign exchange rates fluctuate all the time. The rate you will receive will depend on the amount and currency you require. Please call 0800 783 6022 or +44 20 7801 9080 for a live quote or login in to your Online Account here.

To the comments, Author: jeremy e64c42cdda509545a9ee0aefaca45a8f (10.3.0.9) To the comments, Author: jeremy

In a similar fashion to last week, the week in waiting is geared towards the ECB meeting this coming Thursday. These meetings of late have been all bark and no bite as we rarely see evasive action when we expect it. Bernanke disappointed on Friday in Jackson Hole keeping the FED chequebook in his jacket pocket. He did give what seemed to be a monetary report, justifying the past use and benefits of QE. In other words he has made it clear that from his arsenal of monetary tools, QE is the weapon of choice, but the timing isn’t quite right. USD movement was non-existent almost as if the market anticipated the FED sitting on their hands. It does set the stage for the FED Sept meeting where we do expect this broken record… I mean QE announcement to happen.

Eurozone unemployment held tight at 11.3% with Inflation coming in a little higher than expected, but wholly inside its allocated range, considering the rise in commodity prices of late. In view of the shaky German figures just previously, the modestly sideways stepping Eurozone data was taken as positive news. GBPEUR fell to 1.2570 briefly before news from Spain sent it north of the 1.26 mark.

Spain took a positive step in the right direction on Friday, announcing the plan for the formation of a bad bank for the banking system. Similarly to the situation in Ireland, this bad bank will absorb all the bad debt from the struggling banks to alleviate the contagion risk from holding toxic assets on the balance sheet. This move puts an end in sight for the banking crisis as it means a bottom line can hopefully now be calculated to recapitalise the Spanish banking sector. There are still details that will need to be ironed out but the fact that it’s now happening is the key point of note here. It’s no co-incidence that it happened the same day that Bankia asked for further recapitalisation. The government took a controlling stake in the bank a few months ago and it would appear that the government thought it necessary to produce a more long term plan, before it could pump more cash in the ailing bank.

The US are celebrating Labour day today so we expect a quiet day on all fronts. Nothing significant from Europe data wise as we build up to the climatic ECB meeting on Thursday. We can expect the Spanish banking crisis to be the main talking point of the week as the proposal comes together.

World First is going to Tanzania to build a school with Childreach and we’re currently raising funds for the building materials required. We’d really appreciate any donation you might be able to make. We’ll keep you updated on our efforts once we return! You can make a donation via this link here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/worldfirst?

Latest exchange rates at time of writing

Indicative Rates Sell Buy
GBPEUR 1.2600 1.2630
GBPUSD 1.5850 1.5870
EURUSD 1.2560 1.2585
GBPJPY 124.10 124.40
GBPAUD 1.5450 1.5475
GBPNZD 1.9815 1.9845
GBPCAD 1.5620 1.5650
NZDUSD 0.7985 0.8014
GBPZAR 13.32 13.36
USDZAR 8.3900 8.4350
GBPPLN 5.2745 5.3090
EURJPY 98.35 98.60

To the comments, Author: jeremy e64c42cdda509545a9ee0aefaca45a8f (10.3.2.1) To the comments, Author: jeremy

The most constructive return seen yesterday from European heads of state was the air miles clocked up on the EZ frequent flyer card. Francois Hollande’s visit to Madrid to meet with Mariano Rajoy offered little excitement to the markets. As expected, both pledged support to ECB intervention in the bond market, as well as backing Greece to successfully deliver its Troika report, albeit a little late. Valencia upped the size of its bailout request, mounting pressure on a second bailout for Spain. EUR movement was non-descript, with equities finishing a slow volume day in the red.

The ECB added another important date to the diary on September 12th, where it will unveil its much awaited banking union proposal. This ties in nicely with the outcome from the German constitutional court who rule on the constitutionality of the ESM bail-out fund that day. It could be construed that the powers that be would feel calmer that a supervisory framework be put in place before the ECB gets its balance sheet involved in further bond purchasing.

The proposal will be based on 3 principal pillars; single supervision, credibility and broad coverage. Essentially coordination between national supervising bodies will no longer be sufficient, long story short the ECB will have its finger on the pulse of everything encompassing all banks acting within the EZ.

Merkel’s PR trip to China did have a more symbiotic feel to it. The Chinese did commit future support to buying up European debt. This would have come as somewhat of a relief, given the unpredictability of the Chinese government especially given the slow-down in their economy. Trade links between the two nations were also strengthened.

Bernanke’s eagerly anticipated speech at Jackson Hole will commence at 1500 BST. We still stand by our gut that the Fed will commit to taking the necessary measures but hold off making a call until the September meet following a few more data sets due next week. US data was been stable recently with GDP revised upwards this week. However, saying that, employment stats are the ones that will twist the arm of any further asset purchasing.

Early indicators out for August from Germany paint a worrying picture indeed for the EZ; job losses for the month increased and inflation jumped from 1.9% to 2.2%, while retail sales for July dropped by 0.9%. These figures come ahead of a busy day for inflation and employment figures within the EZ.

Expect a busy day…

World First is going to Tanzania to build a school with Childreach and we’re currently raising funds for the building materials required. We’d really appreciate any donation you might be able to make. We’ll keep you updated on our efforts once we return! You can make a donation via this link here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/worldfirst?

Latest exchange rates at time of writing

Indicative Rates Sell Buy
GBPEUR 1.2630 1.2645
GBPUSD 1.5780 1.5805
EURUSD 1.2520 1.2535
GBPJPY 123.80 124.10
GBPAUD 1.5300 1.5325
GBPNZD 1.9720 1.9745
GBPCAD 1.5650 1.5680
NZDUSD 0.7995 0.8018
GBPZAR 13.40 13.373
USDZAR 8.4230 8.4399
GBPPLN 5.2783 5.3030
EURJPY 98.15 98.40

Please note these rates are “interbank” rates ie they indicate where the market is currently trading and are not indicative of the rates offered by World First. Rates are dependent on amount transacted. It is important to remember that foreign exchange rates fluctuate all the time. The rate you will receive will depend on the amount and currency you require. Please call 0800 783 6022 or +44 20 7801 9080 for a live quote or login in to your Online Account here.

To the comments, Author: jeremy e64c42cdda509545a9ee0aefaca45a8f (10.3.0.9) To the comments, Author: jeremy

It’s a good thing that the Jackson Hole symposium is taking place tomorrow or I would really worry about the sanity of those of us working in markets; the gradual and continual grind sideways leaves nobody interested in putting their head above the parapet for fear of having it shot off by some form of central bank action. Dorothy Parker put it succinctly when she said “they sicken of the calm, those who know the storm”; storms are a-coming however.

Most FX crosses were very much range bound yesterday with the USD slightly on the back foot, as it has been for the past few weeks. Overnight data from Japan has taken Asian shares slightly lower. Japanese retail sales fell as consumers decided to not spend in the run up to the end of various government subsidies on items such as cars.

The 0.8% fall was the first decline since January and further heightens fears that the Far East is no longer immune to the pressures caused by the Eurozone debt crisis. The weather also played a part with cooler temperatures blamed on falling beer and clothing sales.

After the news that Mario Draghi would not be attending Jackson Hole it seemed obvious that he would want to get his speech out in to the world; just because he doesn’t show up, doesn’t mean he can’t influence these things. His views were published in Die Zeit and he once again stated that the ECB would always work within its mandate. He did also say that it was justified for the bank to use the “exceptional measures” as part of the mandate, if the necessity arose.

While this is not an explicit two-fingers at the German Bundesbank, it certainly reaffirms their positions are diametrically opposed and the ECB meeting come Sept 6th will be an interesting one.

As we move into the Jackson Hole circle of orbit I think that we may start to see some dollar strength return to the market with Ben Bernanke not launching any new initiatives during his speech. GBPUSD has traded well in the past few sessions and we would be wary of running things too much higher especially through the Fed chair’s speech. GBPEUR should remain steady and supported by 1.25.

The major news today is an Italian auction of 10yr debt. Tuesday’s short term auction was well demanded, but tends to be so on liquidity grounds by local banks. Today’s is a much longer benchmark auction and will be key to showing how sentiment towards the periphery has changed since Draghi’s original “whatever it takes” statement. This should be out by 10.15am BST

World First is going to Tanzania to build a school with Childreach and we’re currently raising funds for the building materials required. We’d really appreciate any donation you might be able to make. We’ll keep you updated on our efforts once we return! You can make a donation via this link here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/worldfirst?

John will take over for the next 10 days as I am off on holiday, just as it gets exciting!

Latest exchange rates at time of writing

To the comments, Author: jeremy e64c42cdda509545a9ee0aefaca45a8f (10.3.0.9) To the comments, Author: jeremy

The reason behind Draghi’s absence was explained as “work-load”. The initial disappointment took equities and the euro lower before rallying, as traders and investors took “work-load” as needing more time to formulate some sort of plan that will see the ECB buy peripheral debt. The next ECB meeting is Sept 8^th and given the expectations that had been built up by Draghi’s “whatever it takes” comments a few weeks ago, the emphasis is for something large and powerful from the bank.

The major block to this is once again found in Germany. The ECB is more than likely inclined to argue that it will not buy European periphery debt unless the EFSF and the ESM, the two European bailout programs, do so first. This will not happen before Sept 12^th when the German Supreme Court is due to rule whether the ESM is itself constitutional. If that vote does not pass then we are back to square one. The risk is definitely that the ECB underwhelms this market and risk once again slides, with the USD the likely beneficiary.

European bonds were mixed yesterday. We saw decent auctions from Spain and Italy on the shorter term stuff with regional banks the largest participants; they buy the debt in order to lodge it with the ECB in return for loans. The longer dated auction tomorrow of Italian 10yr money will not be as well demanded by local banks and the key will be just where the demand comes from.

The negative news yesterday came from Spain as the region of Catalonia requested EUR5bn worth of aid from the country’s regional financing fund, becoming the 2^nd region to do so. Spain should move back into focus soon as pressure will once again increase on the country to request a bailout.

In the US, consumer confidence slipped dramatically to the lowest level in 9 months. Although some things have been going in consumers’ favours (equity markets) other, more important factors (energy and oil prices) have increased. This will only increase the downward pressure on aggregate demand and  depress economic output. The jobs component of the Richmond manufacturing number was also poor; a negative indicator for next week’s NFP release.

Italian retail sales and consumer confidence are due at 9am and 10am respectively, ahead of the second reading of US GDP for the 2^nd quarter.

FX markets were quiet again yesterday and seem all the more happy to sit on their hands before the monetary policy juggernauts prompt them into some form of action; until then expect further sideways movement.

In other news, World First are gearing up to send a team out to Tanzania to work with Childreach International on their Futurebuilding project. We have 8 staff heading out in November to help on a school building project.

We’re currently raising funds for the building materials required and would be really appreciative of any donation you might be able to make. We’ll keep you updated on our efforts once we return! You can make a donation via this link here: https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/worldfirst?

Have a good day.

Latest exchange rates at time of writing

To the comments, Author: jeremy e64c42cdda509545a9ee0aefaca45a8f (10.3.2.1) To the comments, Author: jeremy

This is of course the place that QE2 was launched from last year and comes after a set of minutes last week that were more dovish than the market had originally expected. We do not think that this conference will see further easing from the Fed however and it will instead come at the scheduled September meeting.

The reasons for our thinking are 2-fold: Firstly, we get the latest Non-Farm payrolls announcement between the two events. This seems to be the main indicator that the Fed and the market is looking at, in our view erroneously, and they will wait on this to gauge whether the time is right. The data picture has remained broadly mixed and the lack of a really poor landscape will act as a delaying factor.

The second reason is that the September meeting comes with new forecasts for the US economy and an attached press conference to explain them. This would obviously give the Fed Chair a more ready platform for the announcement of any new measures.

While the weekend was fairly quiet on the news front (lions in Essex apart) the Asian session has been quite busy for once. This is mainly as a result of the Japanese government downgrading its forecasts and  expectations of the economy. All facets of the economy were taken lower including the strong export sector on the basis of lower global aggregate demand.

Risk came a little lower in the session on the news but price action has been slight to open the week. Both Spain and Italy will try and get away debt acutions today; Spain is asking for bids in very short term debt while Italy’s is focused on more longer term money. Funding pressures have continued to weaken through August as thoughts surrounding yield caps and central bank intervention give investors slightly more confidence in the debt of the periphery. Further falls in yields or increased demand will see the euro improve as well.

Italy will also offer the longer 10 year benchmark bond at an auction on Thursday.

In accordance with our belief that the Fed should be looking at other data more than the NFP number we are looking for some good dollar movement from this afternoon’s consumer confidence and Richmond manufacturing numbers which are both at 15.00.

“World First is going to Africa. We’re working with Childreach International to help build a new school and playground for the children of Tanzania. Help us reach our target by donating whatever you can spare here. Keep up to date with our efforts on our Facebook page. Thank you.”

Latest exchange rates at time of writing

To the comments, Author: jeremy e64c42cdda509545a9ee0aefaca45a8f (10.3.2.1) To the comments, Author: jeremy

Today’s revision to the UK GDP figure for Q2 should bring the number back closer to reality from the slightly ridiculous -0.7% that was the primary estimate. Revisions higher are due following better than expected construction and manufacturing output in June, while retail spending figures seem to have beaten expectations as well.

The revision higher will not erase the 0.7% fall but should bring the number back towards -0.5% which, while still poor, can more readily be explained away by the Jubilee Bank Holiday and the poor weather.

Our tracking puts GDP slightly higher at -0.3% in Q2, a figure that is justified by improvements in the jobs market and the robustness of business surveys such as the PMIs. This improvement will be not be forthcoming today but may do so in next month’s number. We don’t anticipate too much movement in GBP if the number is revised to -0.5%; it is largely priced in and we may instead see sterling slip before the number as traders look for disappointment.

We have seen more comment following the Federal Reserve minutes over the past 24hrs. The President of the St. Louis Fed said that the minutes were “stale” and that the data had improved since then. He also said that a “gigantic” policy response was not needed and expectations may have got ahead of themselves through the summer. However, Chicago Fed Chair Chuck Evans took the other side of the argument in a media interview this morning, arguing that “there’s a lot of reasons to do more” to help the US economy.

The main news in a quiet Asian session is once again from the Reserve Bank of Australia. AUD has become stronger in recent weeks following the grind higher in risk assets post-Draghi. Yesterday we heard from an Australian government official that there were concerns over the strength of the country’s mining sector and AUD slipped back on the comments.

RBA Governor Steven seemed to be happy with AUD at the moment although it is probably trading slightly above where it should be at the moment.

Yesterday’s EZ news was typically slow, although the most recent PMI numbers seem to once again emphasise that the Eurozone is heading back into recession in Q3. EURUSD went on a bit of a run towards 1.26 on stops yesterday but has retreated back overnight.

Apart from the UK GDP figure at 09.30 the data calendar is quiet and we anticipate a sideways trade session into the long weekend.

Have a great one and we will be back on Tuesday.

“World First is going to Africa. We’re working with Childreach International to help build a new school and playground for the children of Tanzania. Help us reach our target by donating whatever you can spare here. Keep up to date with our efforts on our Facebook page. Thank you.”

Latest exchange rates at time of writing

To the comments, Author: jeremy e64c42cdda509545a9ee0aefaca45a8f (10.3.0.9) To the comments, Author: jeremy

Markets have been supported overnight by the latest minutes from the Federal Reserve that were more dovish than most had been expecting, and fitted much more with our original estimation of further easing from the central bank in September, as opposed to later in the year.

The language suggested that the slight improvements we have seen in the jobs market and the slow grind higher in equity markets has not been enough to convince the board that the economy can be left as is. “Many members judged that additional monetary accommodation would likely be warranted fairly soon unless incoming information pointed to a substantial and sustainable strengthening in the pace of the economic recovery,” was the key phrasing and it now seems that the Fed Chair Ben Bernanke will expand QE either at the Jackson Hole symposium next week, or at their scheduled September meeting.

The dollar smashed lower on the news with GBPUSD breaking to fresh 3 month highs while EURUSD kept its head above 1.25. Similar losses have been for the dollar against its other crosses while gold, oil and other commodities have flown higher on inflation expectations. This move by the Federal Reserve has formed the basis of our currency predictions through 2012 and we look for an eventual extension of these dollar losses through Q3 and Q4.

The fact that Chinese data overnight was honking and has barely grazed the dollar losses from the Fed minutes is very important. The latest HSBC PMI data for the Chinese manufacturing sector fell to 47.8 in August, the lowest since November, with the exports component falling into the 44s. This denotes serious contraction in arguably the most important part of the Chinese economy, and will raise expectations of a hard landing and hopes of further stimulus from the authorities.

Europe was quiet yesterday with the meeting between Samaras and Juncker conforming to the typical meeting between politicians of not advancing the agenda a single inch. The main headline was that there would be no Greek aid decision before October and the decision would rest on the basis of the latest Troika assessment. The effect on EUR was minimal as expected although event risk remains from meetings between EU politicians later today and tomorrow.

German GDP has been confirmed at 0.3% in Q2 this morning following the 0.5% rise in Q1, with exports driving higher by 2.5%. The latest PMI numbers from France and Germany are also due this morning with manufacturing likely to remain in contractionary territory while services should break above 50.0.

Have a good day

“World First is going to Africa. We’re working with Childreach International to help build a new school and playground for the children of Tanzania. Help us reach our target by donating whatever you can spare here. Keep up to date with our efforts on our Facebook page. Thank you.”

Latest exchange rates at time of writing

To the comments, Author: jeremy e64c42cdda509545a9ee0aefaca45a8f (10.3.0.9) To the comments, Author: jeremy

It was a perfect storm for those betting against the single currency yesterday as comment, bond auctions and other markets combined to push EURUSD back towards range highs ahead of important political meetings between the leaders of the Eurogroup, Greece, France and Germany over the coming few days.

The rally was started by a ratings agency of all people. Normally the handmaidens of bad news, in this instance they told the market what they wanted to hear in that they believe that the ECB may take action to buy peripheral bonds “without the support of the Bundesbank”. This was following the Draghi press conference that dictated the “whatever it takes” mantra from the Chair. His following press conference stated that bond purchases may come under the Bank’s mandate if it threatened the transmission of monetary policy only reinforced this in Fitch’s view.

This pushed equities, gold, oil and EURUSD higher on a mixture of a liquidity and inflationary pressure spike.

Next, the Spanish auctioned off 12 and 18 month debt and found the market accommodative. Yields were lower and although demand was also slightly down Spain managed to sell more than it initially wanted. This continued the downward trend in peripheral bond yields especially at the shorter end of the time curve. Shorter dated stuff is a better barometer of immediate funding risks than the typical 10yr benchmark, and both Spain’s and Italy’s have seen the yields move lower as the market has come round to the expectation that some form of ECB help will be forthcoming soon.

Samaras will take his request for “more breathing room” to the various real leaders of the Eurozone (Juncker, Hollande and Merkel) over the coming days, and while this is a noble fight, it is the wrong one. As we said on Monday, a new bailout fund will only come with further austerity and this has now become unsustainable for  Greece and its people. It has cut as much as it can and any further will be more damaging than recuperative.

As it has been our argument for a long time now, the easing from the ECB and the plans to deal with the debt markets are to help the rest of Europe contain the fallout from a Greek exit. Greece cannot be helped anymore.

Recent market moves and data revisions have caused us to reassess our expectations of further easing from the Federal Reserve. We had initially thought that September would be the month in which the lever would once again be pulled but I cannot see it with the current conditions. The global economy is still very much in the doldrums but has not materially deteriorated since the last Fed meeting. You combine this with the fact that the S&P 500 climbed to its highest level since 2008 yesterday and the argument for easing sooner rather than later further diminishes.

Fed member Lockhart spoke yesterday on monetary policy and warned that it was too “aggressive” at the moment. He is looking for fiscal policy to take the reins as the primary influencer on the US economy. The market took little interest however, as he is widely regarded as the most hawkish member of the committee.

We now see it happening before the end of the year but the chance of some form of co-ordinated action from the world’s central banks has remained stable; a situation contingent on a significant European wobble.

The latest Fed minutes are due this evening and combined with the fact that the S&P made, but was unable to sustain, those 4 year levels does suggest that a pullback of yesterday’s move could be on the cards through today’s session. Tonight’s Chinese PMI figures will also be key for commodity currencies and a poor figure could intensify USD strength.

Have a good day.

“World First is going to Africa. We’re working with Childreach International to help build a new school and playground for the children of Tanzania. Help us reach our target by donating whatever you can spare here. Keep up to date with our efforts on our Facebook page. Thank you.”

Latest exchange rates at time of writing

To the comments, Author: jeremy e64c42cdda509545a9ee0aefaca45a8f (10.3.0.9) To the comments, Author: jeremy

The half-life of weekend rumours around plans and actions that the ECB may take to deal with the debt crisis is rapidly decreasing alongside the impact that they have on the single currency. The most recent rumour over the weekend was that the ECB is planning to cap European peripheral bond yields by intervening in the secondary market.

Although the report had no official sources commenting within it, it was enough to drive bond yields lower and put the euro back towards 1.24 against the dollar with GBPEUR back in the low 1.27s. The German Finance Ministry did come and spoil the party halfway through the day however by saying that it was unaware of any plans to target bond yields.

The Bundesbank also stuck its oar in, although this was through the publication of its latest monthly report which simply happened to be coming out on the same day. The Buba said that they saw “significant” risks in ECB bond buying programs but this was not enough to put the euro too much lower and the single currency is demonstrating some admirable resilience at the moment.

Elsewhere, the only real headlines have come from Australia overnight with the publication of the latest minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia meeting. The lack of comment surrounding the recent strength of AUD has pushed cross AUD higher with support coming from the lack of chatter about interest rate cuts as well.

Once again, there is very little to look forward to today with UK public finances the main data issuance. Things to hot up tomorrow with the minutes from the latest Fed meeting and Friday sees the latest publication of UK GDP for Q2.

With the dearth of data and poor summer volumes it seems almost too obvious to say that today will see currencies remain range-bound through today’s session at least. But they will unfortunately.

Have a good day

“World First is going to Africa. We’re working with Childreach International to help build a new school and playground for the children of Tanzania. Help us reach our target by donating whatever you can spare here. Keep up to date with our efforts on our Facebook page. Thank you.”

Latest exchange rates at time of writing

To the comments, Author: jeremy e64c42cdda509545a9ee0aefaca45a8f (10.3.0.9) To the comments, Author: jeremy