Currency Rates

US$/GBP - 1.559

Sterling slid yesterday as closer inspection of the minutes from the Bank of England’s interest rate decision meeting revealed – despite a ‘unanimous decision’ – that for some members the arguments were ‘very finely balanced’. In addition, UK unemployment claims unexpectedly jumped by 23,500 in January which also weighed on sterling as unemployment hit a 13 year high. Whilst this can be attributed to temporary workers from the festive period once again looking for work, it paints a worrying picture. Overnight, sterling fell further against US dollar as Asian stock markets reacted to poor Australian company earnings announcements. Mortgage approval data is out today and is expected to show an improvement, but there are concerns over the consistency of the figures, as many lenders have increased market share in the last 18 months which could lead to inconsistencies in the figures. Call in today to avoid losing out.

In the US, the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s recent interest rate meeting were released yesterday which showed that they might take the first steps to raising interest rates in the coming months. This stance would make the US dollar a much more attractive venue for investment and adds weight to forecasts that sterling will move towards the low 1.50s – the pound has already fallen from a 2 week high of $1.58/ £1 to $1.565/ £1. Get in touch now to avoid losing out further.