By Ashley Finill
With little data out this week as we see out the last week of February, the currency market has seen minor shifts throughout this week’s trading. That being said, The Pound has remained in a strong position on both the majors which is good for those of you with Sterling in hand needing to purchase Euros or Dollars in the coming weeks/months. In the last month, the Pound has gained nearly 1.5% on the Euro alone and to put that into monetary terms, if you have a property purchase costing €150k, the property is now roughly £1800 cheaper today than it was a month ago, which has presented a great buying opportunity for those of you who may need currency in the coming weeks. With economic pressures and key interest rate decisions to be announced across the year, these topics will likely continue to dictate the currency market movements across 2025. As we have seen already this year, data released from the global economies can bring some unpredicted announcements which could result in the currency market moving against you.
Forward Contracts
Our popular forward contract option could be of interest as you can lock in the current highs against both the Euro or the Dollar, with only a 10% deposit to secure your currency, and payment for the remaining due at contract end – giving you peace of mind in knowing you’re within your budget, and crucially removing the risk of the market going against you during the time of the completion on your property. Speak to our team today should you want to take advantage of the current highs and to go through your options.
US/Ukraine deal
There has been more progress on a resolution to the war in the Ukraine. On Friday, Ukraine Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to travel to Washington to Meet US president Donald Trump to sign a minerals deal as an agreement had been reached between the two countries to bring the conflict a step closer to ending the 3 year long war to and end with Russia. If the conflict comes to an end in the coming weeks, this could further weaken the dollar as investors may drive away from its safe-haven status and place their money elsewhere.
Data Remaining this week
As mentioned, it is a fairly quiet week as we see out the remainder of February but there are still a few releases to take note of which could shake up the market. Today, There are various speeches from members of committees from both the Fed and BoE throughout the day who may shed some light on interest rate decision in the coming months. At 3pm the US post New Home Sales Change. Thursday sees a busier day on the data front, at 10am, the EU post business climate, Consumer confidence and economic sentiment, staying with the EU, the ECB monetary policy meeting accounts is at 12.30pm. Going stateside at 1.30pm, the US post GDP which is likely to cause some volatility in Thursday afternoon trading. There are also speeches from various members of the Fed in the afternoon. Finally on Friday, big economic releases in Germany, at 7am they post retail sales and then unemployment figures at 8.55am, at 1pm they also post consumer price index (inflation). Into Friday afternoon, Canada post GDP at 1.30pm and seeing out the month the US post Core Personal Consumption Expenditures and Personal income and spending.