Good morning.
Volatility was back yesterday as Italy is in focus amid speculations it will not be able to survive the debt burden under the current PM Silvio Berlusconi. The Italian parliament is scheduled to pass further austerity measures today and if the ruling party fails to get the fiscal reforms passed, chants for Berlusconi’s resignation may grow louder. However, it’s difficult to write the man off since he’s the ultimate survivor – has come out unscathed after 12 no-confidence motions in the last eleven months.
Retail sales figure released yesterday showed a drop of 0.7% for the month of September with a bigger drop in non-food sales. To make matters worse, German industrial production fell to their lowest since February 2009. Many analysts believe that the region is slowing slipping into recession again. Data coming out from the UK failed to cheer as well. British Retail Consortium’s data showed like-for-like sales dropped by 0.6% against an expected drop of 0.2%. However, data released by the Royal.
Institute of Chartered Surveyors showed housing activity has moved upwards, albeit slightly.
Europe is expected to witness loads of auctions today with Greece, Belgium, Austria and Netherlands tapping the debt markets for funds.
CURRENCY RATES OVERVIEW
GBP/EURO – 1.1658
GBP/US$ – 1.6052
GBP/CHF – 1.4511
GBP/CAN$ – 1.6322
GBP/AUS$ – 1.5568
GBP/ZAR – 12.7680
GBP/JPY – 125.34
GBP/HKD – 12.4861
GBP/NZD – 2.0170
GBP/SEK – 10.5642
If your currency pairing is not listed above and you want to make a currency transfer, check out our comparison tables at www.mycurrencytransfer.com for the best foreign exchange rates.
Euro: The single currency gained against the greenback yesterday after rumours of Berlusconi’s resignation hit the market. Better than expected corporate results however, failed to cheer the debt market with Italian government bond yields hitting the near 15 year highs yesterday. The focus will remain on Italy’s confidence vote this afternoon. The EUR/USD pair opens at 1.3777 this morning while the GBP/EUR pair is sitting at 1.1664.
USD: Cable had started weak against the greenback yesterday despite Halifax’s UK house price index showing a 1.1% growth. Rumours of Berlusconi’s resignation had pushed the Sterling up against the greenbacks for a short duration. The GBP/USD pair looks strong this morning on better corporate earnings data and opens at 1.6080.
Elsewhere, the AUD and the NZD almost remained flat against the greenback. China’s manufacturing expanded during October, laying to rest fears of an economic slowdown in the world’s second largest economy.
Have a great day!
