This morning will see some key data released for the U.K and although Sterling has had a forgettable week, this data could just cap it off as figures released are due to confirm that we are officially in a recession. This is not exactly breaking news and I’m sure that anyone who has been near a newspaper or seen a news report on the television in the past few months would already know the dire situation that the U.K has found itself in.
At 09:30am the Gross Domestic Product figures are due to come out, these figures show whether or not the U.K economy has expanded or contracted in the final quarter of 2008 and just by how much. When an economy is seen to contract for two consecutive quarters this technically places it into a recession.
One would expect that this has been mainly priced into the market, but should the figures come out even worse than predicted – as most of the U.K data has been recently then we could see Sterling cap off an awful week with further losses heading closer to parity with the Euro and back down to the 23 year lows seen this week against the Dollar.
At the same time this morning the Retail sales figures are also released for the U.K showing how the retail sector faired up over the Christmas period and throughout December – Expect further movement for the pound should figure not come out as projected.
With all the doom and gloom surrounding the U.K at the moment, and with a major player in the money markets by the name of Jim Rodgers urging people to “sell any Sterling they might have” live on Bloomberg on Tuesday it may be wise to secure any upcoming currency transfers you have sooner rather than later, as the markets do move every two seconds and I personally have witnessed a lot of clients recently lose a lot of money by holding out for that extra spike. A common phrase in the currency markets is that more is lost by indecision rather than a bad decision so why not eliminate the gamble and contact one of our experienced brokers today who will happily explain the various options available to you.
Sterling – summary of the week gone by
The past weeks trading for the pound has been poor to say the least, following a flurry of bad data in general and news that major banks are becoming ever closer to being fully nationalized.
Sterling hovered around a 23 year low during the week as investors showed their concerns that the U.K is heading for a deep financial crisis as the economy languishes in recession.
“The market is taking the view that nationalization of at least part of the UK banking sector is almost inevitable and this is weighing on Sterling”
Lee Hardman, Currency analyst at BTM UFJ in London.
Cable has moved by roughly 7% over the week – costing an over £9000 more for a $200,000 purchase – it has now crashed around 30% since July when you could get $2 for your pound. Sterling has also lost ground against most major currencies including over 6 cents lost against the Euro.
Selling Foreign Currency
One plus point amidst all of this doom and gloom is for those of you who have decided to sell up properties abroad or who merely have sums of foreign currency that they wish to change back into Sterling to take advantage of some fantastic levels we have seen of late. This is something we can also assist with here at FCD and I personally have recently noted a large increase in people doing exactly so.
If this is something you will be looking to do soon or in the near future then feel free to get in touch with one of our friendly experienced dealers to inform them of your plans and ask any questions or queries you may have.
This is a brief summary of todays report. Click here to read the full report on our main website
If you are buying a property abroad, and want the best exchange rates, just click on the links below to go straight to our main site, or Email Me
Have a great day and thanks for reading!
Daniel Wright
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