By Ashley Finill
This week has already been a rocky one for Sterling as the Pound started off the week trading on the backfoot against both the Euro and the US dollar, dropping around half a cent on both currencies. Yesterday morning didn’t help Sterling either as UK retail sales slowed down for the month of January, although this could be expected following on from the month of December with festive shopping. However, throughout the day in yesterday’s trading the pound clawed back some ground on the Euro and is still currently trading at the top of the range, so those with a Euro requirement may want to think about your options as frailties with the pound are starting to show. With Sterling currently trading at the top of the range and struggling to break through, it is not out of the ordinary to start seeing the Euro fight back as we saw numerous times throughout 2023.
Current Highs Brings Savings to Buyers
As we come into Wednesday trading, Sterling has continued to hold ground overnight on the Euro and has gained just under half a cent on the dollar and continues to be the outperforming currency out of the G10 for 2024. It is worth noting that since the back end of November, the pound has gained over 3 cents on the Euro. Those of you with property completions may be looking at the market and hoping for a little a bit more but to put the gains seen over the past weeks into monetary terms, a property for €150k at the point of purchase back in November to now is saving you roughly around £4k. As we have seen many times before, the currency market move in an unpredictable manner and sterling is not immune to a sharp drop at moment’s notice so holding for more could cost you should the market move against you. Should you want to take advantage of the best trading levels we have seen for some months then contact your currency consultant today.
Data remaining this week
Very little data releases remain this week, the only release of note is tomorrow in the US at 1.30pm as initial jobless claims will be posted. Also, across the next couple of days are various speeches from members of the Bank of England, European Central bank, and the Fed, all of which may give some insight to what the banks are thinking ahead of interest rate decisions in the next 4/5 weeks.