Latest Market Report

Sterling Forecast for April 21 2009

CBI Predicts Slow Recovery
A pattern usually seen with Sterling this year yesterday’s trading saw many of the gains made over the course of last week lost again losing 0.80% against the Euro and a whopping 1.67% against the Dollar.
The majority of the losses appear to be down to a report released by the CBI (Confederation of British Industries) predicting that we should see growth in the economy again in Spring of 2010 but any recovery will be ‘”slow and fragile.”
The predictions released by the CBI predicted that the U.K economy would shrink by approximately 3.9% over the course of 2009 but start to turn around over the course of 2010 eventually growing by 0.2% in the second quarter. A report also released by Earnst and Young although sounding slightly better still echoed a large contraction throughout this year with the U.K shrinking by 3.5%
It is widely expected that Alistair Darling himself will predict economic contraction for the U.K in 2009 at 3% during the budget – much higher than his last forecast in November which sat between 0.75% – 1.25%.
These reports have come from highly respected sources and once again do not spell out a good short term future for Sterling, so should you have an upcoming currency requirement that is fairly imminent, or indeed in the future it may be wise to contact your account manager here at FX-Foreign Exchange to discuss the options available to you, to ensure the cost of your purchase does not run over budget due to adverse market movements.
Here at FX-Foreign Exchange we have a variety of tools to protect both private and commercial clients against adverse market movements, including limit orders and forward contracts. If you aren’t sure as to what these tools do and how they work then please do feel free to pick up the phone and call one of our dedicated and friendly traders on +44 (0) 1480 458400 or click here to make an enquiry online and we will call you back.

Budget 2009
As most regular readers may be aware tomorrow brings the release of the budget by chancellor
Alistair Darling. This should almost certainly lead to market volatility during its announcement as it should give key indications as to the plan of action to conquer the recession we have found ourselves in.
Should the budget release be seen as positive for the U.K then we could see positive movements for the Pound and likewise should Mr Darlings comments indicate that we are in for a rough ride then Sterling could well lose further ground against a basket of major currencies.
If you have a requirement – whether it be to buy or sell foreign currency then it is imperative that you are in a position to move off of the back of a phone call. Our traders are there to keep you up to date with market movements and by having a active trading facility it puts you in the position to book out a rate should the markets move in your favour.
For example: If you had $100,000 to exchange into Sterling yesterday you could have achieved nearly £1000 more for your money by trading at the optimum point of the day…. certainly makes you realise that this is real money you are dealing with and tomorrow could throw up some fantastic opportunities so please do make sure you are available should we need to get in touch.
Today’s data
With the budget looming tomorrow it is easy to forget that we still have another day of data releases due out today which may cause just as much volatility on the markets and create just as many great opportunities to secure your rate, today’s releases are outlined below:
09:30 U.K Consumer Price Index – Month on Month and Year on Year
09:30 Retail Price Index – Month on Month and Year on Year
These are key inflation releases and will give a good indication as to how inflation has been affected by the recent slowdown alongside the decision to proceed with quantitative easing.
10:00 German ZEW Survey – Economic Sentiment
This measures the share of investors that are optimistic against the share of analysts that are pessimistic. An optimistic view will be viewed as positive for the Euro and pessimistic negative.
14:00 BOC interest rate decision
The Bank Of Canada release their monthly interest rate decision. As regular readers will know an interest rate cut generally has a negative effect and a hike a positive. The expectation is for the BOC to keep rates on hold at 0.5%. A release different to this should cause volatility.

Our currency exchange services provide a professional, efficient and cost-effective method for currency conversion. Our very personal service is suited to business users, needing to buy forex at the best currency exchange rates available, and for the private clients who wish to make a single money transfer, or regular payments such as overseas pension transfers. Call us at FX-Foreign Exchange on Tel +44  (0) 1480 458400 for a personal consultation with a broker.