AUD, ZAR Exchange Rates End Week Lower, GBP Recovers, USD Bullish

Published: 12 Sep at 10 AM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, China, South Africa,

Pound Sterling GBP
Before the publication of the UK’s Construction Output figures, the Pound was trending in a narrow range against peers like the US Dollar and Euro. Sterling was enjoying a bullish relationship with a struggling ‘Aussie’ and was also slightly stronger against the New Zealand and Canadian Dollars.

US Dollar USD
The US Dollar is in line to post five-day gains against the majority of its currency counterparts this week. The North American asset has derived support over the last few days from largely positive domestic data and hawkish commentary from several highly-placed Fed officials on the subject of hiking interest rates. If today’s US advance retail sales report impresses, the US Dollar could push higher still before the weekend.

Euro EUR
While the appeal of the Euro was quashed last week by the European Central Bank’s latest batch of stimulus measures, the common currency has valiantly held its own against the Pound. On Monday the EUR/GBP pairing took advantage of the British asset’s Scottish referendum-inspired losses and achieved a multi-week high. However, Sterling has been fighting back over the last few days and if the Eurozone’s employment and industrial production reports disappoint, the Pound could come out on top.

Australian Dollar AUD
A risk-off environment, dubious domestic economic data and below-forecast Chinese CPI have all contributed to the Australian Dollar’s bearish relationship with rivals like the New Zealand Dollar, Pound and ‘Greenback’ this week. The ‘Aussie’ is preparing to record weekly losses against the majority of its peers and with little in the way of influential economic reports for Australia pencilled in for the next few days, the Australian Dollar could remain on the back foot.

New Zealand Dollar NZD
The New Zealand Dollar took a tumble mid-week as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand adopted a surprisingly hawkish stance in its latest interest rate announcement. The central bank implied that interest rates would remain on hold for even longer than previously anticipated due to external and internal pressures. However, the ‘Kiwi’ did get a modest boost on Friday as New Zealand’s Performance of Manufacturing index impressed.

Canadian Dollar CAD
Last week’s lacklustre employment figures and a lack of additional influential reports for Canada have left the ‘Loonie’ struggling this week. The GBP/CAD and USD/CAD exchange rates have advanced and are likely to continue trending higher into the weekend.

South African Rand ZAR
The South African Rand was trending lower against both the US Dollar and Pound on Friday. Geopolitical tensions, bets that the UK and US will raise interest rates and a run of poor domestic data has left the Rand floundering. Next week’s South African inflation and retail sales data is likely to inspire Rand movement. Of course, the South African Reserve Bank interest rate decision will also be hugely influential.
As of Friday, 12th September 2014, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.2553, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.6274, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.8006, GBP NZD exchange rate was 1.9975, GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.8052, GBP CNY exchange rate was 9.9928, and GBP ZAR exchange rate was 17.9503.

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