Over the course of last week sterling held steady against most other currencies. The availability of mortgages continues to be a problem for the housing market as the banks take the classic approach in such times by restricting supply and improving margins. Probably making the same money with a lot less risk. Business confidence in the UK continues to ebb away and the Bank of England meets later this week and the expectation is for a 0.25% cut in UK interest rates. The surprise would be no cut at all. No significant upside for sterling short term.
The US$ sits at US$1.987/£1 inter bank. Economic conditions in the US continue to worsen. 80,000 lost jobs in March which was worse than expectations. However, the financial markets were a bit more stable which has helped the US$ and the extent of further US$ interest rate cuts may not be as great as first thought. However still a long way out of the woods and a bit like sterling I wouldn't expect much upside shorter term.
No comments:
Post a Comment