12/12/2012

Smart Currency Rates and Comments 12th December 2012 - Risk appetite increases which supports the euro

GBP/EUR - 1.2376
GBP/USD - 1.6102
EUR/GBP - 0.8077
EUR/USD - 1.3008
GBP/AED - 5.9162
GBP/AUD - 1.5281
GBP/CAD - 1.5874
GBP/CHF - 1.5002
GBP/HKD - 12.4826
GBP/HUF - 349.67
GBP/INR - 87.34
GBP/JPY - 133.32
GBP/NZD - 1.9162
GBP/SEK - 10.6812
GBP/ZAR - 13.9354


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Sterling had a mixed day yesterday, weakening off against the euro and the higher yielding currencies and strengthening against the US dollar and Japanese yen as risk appetite drove the market. Unemployment data  will be the main news on the agenda in the UK today, with both the rate of unemployment and figures showing the change in the number of people claiming unemployment benefits being released. Get in touch now for the most up to date news and rate.

The euro continued to rally yesterday as German economic sentiment data was markedly better than expected pushing to 1.30 against the US dollar. Strong results from a Spanish bond auction also helped support the euro despite hints that the Spanish were not far away from requesting a bailout. Analysts are citing continued monetary easing in the USA as limiting the fallout to recent Spanish and Italian news. With little data out today, the focus will be on a meeting between finance ministers in Brussels, looking ahead to Thursday's economic summit. Get in touch now for the latest news and rates.

The US dollar struggled across the board yesterday with markets nervous ahead of today's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) decision on interest rates and quantitative easing and with increased optimism surrounding a potential resolution to  the so-called fiscal cliff situation. The trade balance figures came out close to what was expected and therefore didn't have much impact on the markets, although the data revealed that October's exports to China had plunged by the most since January 2009. Today we have the second day of the FOMC meeting, economic projections and press conference which follows. This may give some indication of progress on US fiscal talks along with anticipation that the Federal reserve may extend its level of quantitative easing, especially as the so-called "operation twist" policy completes to the end of the year.

Elsewhere, the Swiss franc dropped against the euro yesterday hitting three month lows after UBS said it will follow Credit Suisse's lead and will start charging clients on accounts which hold Swiss francs. The New Zealand dollar performed relatively well as the Reserve Bank of New Zealand announced it was not looking to cut interest rates. The South African rand weakened for a second day in a row as the nation’s gold and mining production fell versus a year ago. The Polish zloty and Hungarian forint both performed well yesterday due to the general increase in global risk appetite. Overnight, the Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia was talking; but, very little data is due to be released today. Call in now to get a live quote from your trader.

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