Daily Brief

British pound does a Tiger

3 minute read

USD: It was as if the dollar had taken the day off. With the exception of the Chicago Fed's National Activity Index (unchanged at 0.18) and the Dallas Fed's manufacturing index (two points softer than forecast at 28.1) there was nothing to motivate either buyers or sellers. No economy-related presidential tweets. No appearances by Federal Reserve officials (they have to keep quiet immediately ahead of a FOMC meeting). Even the trade deal with South Korea was more window-dressing than breakthrough. So the USD wandered aimlessly through the day, unchanged against the EUR.

EUR: Even though the euro was in the end flat against the USD it had a little excitement along the way. IFO's measures of German business confidence came in stronger than forecast and the European Central Bank president came close to being bullish about the euro zone economy. Mario Draghi told the European Parliament that there has been a "relatively vigorous" pick-up in inflation and he expects to see it around 1.7% for the next two years.  The EUR jumped half a cent on his comment before subsiding to it starting point.

CAD: Perhaps taking a lead from its southern neighbour, the CAD had a fairly idle day too, losing a net eighth of a cent to the USD. Like the EUR, it had its moments, strengthening through New York's opening and dropping back as lunchtime approached. Slightly higher oil prices did not do much for it and there were no domestic economic data or central bank comments.  

GBP: After its walloping on Friday the pound spent the weekend licking its wounds. On Monday it plucked up the courage to get back on its horse and put on a performance strong enough to make it the day's leader, strengthening by a quarter of a US cent. Once again it was the Brexit prognosis rather than the UK economic data that did the work. Investors were heartened to hear that the opposition Labour party is considering giving its support to a second referendum which could, if it were to take place, conceivably keep Britain in the EU.

JPY: The JPY could manage no more than an average performance, losing a third of a yen to the USD. Minutes of the recent Bank of Japan policy meeting revealed little more than a continued desire to keep interest rates at rock bottom. A speech by BoJ governor Kuroda was equally unhelpful. Rates will have to remain low for an "extended period". Investors knew that already. 

 
Sign up for a free account

Sign up for a free account

Access our convenient and secure online platform to process your international payments. Manage beneficiaries and view payment status and history at the click of a button.

Find out more
FX business solutions

FX business solutions

We provide tailored services to help companies make international payments and manage their foreign exchange risk

Find out more