Foreign Exchange - UK Daily Update - Tuesday, September 2, 2008 6:32 - 0 Comments

World First’s Morning FX Update - 2nd September 2008

Sterling at the moment is akin to those ‘penny push’ machines one finds on Brighton Pier however the 2p pieces we feed in have been substituted for bad news and political discord while the machine steals all potential gains with not so much as a penny sweet of consolation. The ripples from Alistair Darling’s economic depth charge were felt fully yesterday as sterling continued its precipitous drop on the FX markets. Yesterday’s declines now make the British Pound the worst performing of all the G10 currencies over the course of 2008.

Opinion is fairly unanimous that the Chancellor’s comments were nothing that we didn’t already know but merely acted as another ‘red flag’ hoisted up next to the white flag of the pound’s surrender. The fact that this goes against Gordon Brown’s assertions that all is well is all the more calamitous for sterling.

The US enjoyed a bank holiday yesterday but jump straight back into the data cycle today with the publication of construction spending and ISM manufacturing figures. The former may act in sharp contrast to the UK PMI for the construction sector slated for release this morning.

Indicative Rates
	Sell	Buy
GBPEUR	1.2282	1.2308
GBPUSD	1.7887	1.7910
EURUSD	1.4544	1.4567
GBPJPY	193.02	193.76
GBPAUD	2.1175	2.1227
GBPNZD	2.5986	2.6042
GBPCAD	1.9112	1.9166
GBPZAR	13.89	13.94
USDZAR	7.76	7.79
GBPPLN	4.1087	4.1341
Rates are dependent on amount transacted Please call 0207 801 9080 for a live rate quote

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 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.   

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.