Foreign Exchange - UK Daily Update - Tuesday, October 28, 2008 8:39 - 0 Comments

Equities Lead The Way – World First’s Morning Update -28th October 2008

Equities bourses dominated direction among major currencies yesterday. Japans Nikkei 225 hit its lowest close in 26 years, as importing stocks were sold off due to fears surrounding the strong Yen. US equity indexes also all closed down, to levels not seen in over 5 years. The FTSE feared better, and managed to finish nearly flat after recovering from an early morning battering. Worst hit were stocks with exposure to emerging markets as the recession chill spreads further east.

Sterling followed the FTSE’s fortunes, with declines evident in its major crosses in early trading; this was reversed with some recovery evident later throughout the day. It did fall to an all time low against Euro at one stage, but this was short-lived thankfully. This was in part to ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet giving clear warning that a rate cut could be the outcome of next week’s meeting.

The Indonesian rupiah slid almost 9% in overnight trading to close at a 7 year low, indicative of the sell down occurring in emerging markets. Oil sank to 17 month lows of $62 a barrel as fears are that a global economic slowdown will reduce demand. This is despite OPEC cutting supply by 1.5 million barrels a day last week. Lower oil is aiding in Dollar’s recent strength and this trend looks set to continue for some time.

Data today from home will focus on CBI Distribute Trades to clarify the extent of the retail sector downturn. US Consumer Confidence may also have some impact. Overnight trading in Asian Stocks has looked bullish early this morning, and will likely flow on to good news for Sterling today.

 

Indicative Rates
	Sell	Buy
GBPEUR	1.2441	1.2462
GBPUSD	1.5533	1.5580
EURUSD	1.2492	1.2514
GBPJPY	146.82	147.75
GBPAUD	2.5080	2.5123
GBPNZD	2.7907	2.7997
GBPCAD	1.9935	1.9994
NZDUSD	0.5536	0.5585
GBPZAR	16.61	16.96
USDZAR	10.66	10.86
GBPPLN	4.6744	4.6845
Rates are dependent on amount transacted Please call 0207 801 9080 for a live rate quote

 

Please feel free to contact me (rick.roache@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.

 

To view any past or present currency blogs please click on the following link www.worldfirst.com/blog

 

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.