Plummeting ?Pound? Against Weak US Dollar, Canadian Dollar Steady, ?Aussie? and ?Kiwi? Remain Consistent

Published: 24 Jun at 1 PM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, China, Germany, South Africa,

Pound Sterling (GBP)

The Pound has fallen this morning after Bank of England representatives Charlie Bean and David Miles have quashed interest rate hike speculation by stating that it would be a last resort to cool Britain’s housing market. After reaching a recent five-year high against the US Dollar and exceeding the $1.70 threshold, the current Pound/’Buck’ exchange rate is sitting at 1.6976. Mark Carney is set to speak about monetary policy this Thursday, which could either help the Pound recover today’s losses or see it fall further.

Euro (EUR)

Tuesday has seen a strengthening for the Euro against currencies such as the Pound and the US Dollar. Disappointing Eurozone data was published on Monday with the currency bloc’s Services and Manufacturing PMI falling short and Tuesday has seen more unfavourable figures published. The German IFO Business Climate data has revealed a drop from 110.4 to a lower than predicted reading of 109.7; the German Current Assessment measure remained stagnant at 114.8; and the German IFO expectations gauge fell from 106.2 to 104.8.

US Dollar (USD)

The US will publish Consumer Confidence and New Home Sales data on Tuesday which could give the weakened ‘Buck’ some strength. Monday saw positive statistics for Markit Manufacturing PMI and Existing Home Sales figures for the US, giving the ‘Greenback’ a more optimistic start to the week despite the pressures of last week’s dovish FOMC commentary. A currency expert for the National Australia Bank has suggested: ‘We don’t expect the Dollar to deteriorate, but equally, it’s not expected to really take off until we get some indication of change.’

Canadian Dollar (CAD)

The ‘Loonie’ has risen recently to heights not seen since January, and with higher than predicted inflation data recently published, the Canadian Dollar is looking more appealing to investors at the prospect of interest rate hikes. Foreign exchange expert for the Bank of Nova Scotia Camilla Sutton has stated: ‘On the back of the CPI release, expectations for the [Bank of Canada] first interest rate hike increased marginally, but still stand at just a 13 per cent probability in the next year.’

Australian Dollar (AUD)

The ‘Aussie’ appears to be shying away from the recent heights achieved against the US Dollar as investors await the results of the American Consumer Confidence Report. However economists predict that within the next two weeks the ‘Aussie’ may gain enough momentum to climb to the $0.95 mark. With positive Chinese data the Australian Dollar looked to hold its position despite predictions that the AUD/USD pairing would slump. Currency expert, Steven Dooley, has commented: ‘We had stronger Chinese data yesterday and the Australian economy is generally beating expectations.’

New Zealand Dollar (NZD)

The New Zealand Dollar had an excellent start to the week on Monday with above forecast data from China—the biggest importer of New Zealand commodities—being published. However the disappointing results both yesterday and today for the Eurozone (another big importer of New Zealand’s products) have caused a pause in the ‘Kiwi’s’ climb. Strategist at Westpac, Imre Speizer, has commented: ’Yesterday we had a China PMI report which was quite strong and that caused the ‘Aussie’ and the ‘Kiwi’ to rise against the US, and that rise for New Zealand lasted until about 6pm yesterday and then it stopped as you had some negative news out of Europe.’

South African Rand (ZAR)

With the end of the platinum strike finally sweeping over South Africa, the Rand may have some chance at holding stability. With a deal being agreed upon with the workers, economists believe the Rand may be able to increase its value against the US Dollar. Market expert for 4cast, Anisha Arora, has stated: ‘With Dollar/Rand 10.5520 support from the June 9 low under pressure on Monday afternoon, there is scope to test the 10.5050 May 29 high as sentiments are likely to improve in the short term on the back of the wage deal.’ However with metal workers planned strike action next week it may see another cause of volatility for the Rand.
As of Tuesday, 24th June 2014, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.2485, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.6985, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.813, GBP NZD exchange rate was 1.958, GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.8251, GBP CNY exchange rate was 10.5834, and GBP ZAR exchange rate was 18.0613.

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