The manufacturing ISM figure fell to the lowest level since 1980 however stock markets decided to open the New Year with a bullish air with most global bourses enjoying some gains. Data from the UK was also pretty ugly as mortgage approvals fell to the lowest level since 1999. According to a survey by HBOS house prices fell in the month of December by 2.2%; a greater shift than the 1.6% that was expected.

Data today is fairly slim with only construction PMI of note; needless to say we foresee falls on this measure as the housing market continues to falter.

Please feel free to contact me (jeremy.cook@worldfirst.com) if you have any questions or thoughts regarding these updates or if you are interested in a particular event in the calendar. If you would like to discuss your foreign exchange requirements, please contact our:

Corporate Foreign Exchange Team on 020 7801 9050 or our Private Client Currency Exchange Team on 020 7801 9080.

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Disclaimer: The above comments are only our views and should not be construed as advice. You should act using your own information and judgement. Although information has been obtained from and is based upon multiple sources the author believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy and it may be incomplete or condensed. All opinions and estimates constitute the author’s own judgement as of the date of the briefing and are subject to change without notice.

Any rates given are “interbank” i.e. for amounts of £5million and thus are not indicative of rates offered by World First for smaller amounts. E&OE. Definitions of jargon/market terms can be found in our Glossary of Foreign Exchange Terms.