Weekly Market Update 16-02-2011
 

£/€
Range of the week: 1.1833- 1.1964
Variance of the week on £10k=€131

All eyes this week have been on the UK with the CPI data and the supporting inflation reported being published.

CPI came out at 4.0% which although is double the BOE’s target was as expected.

In summary this mornings inflation report by Mervyn King has left the market feeling rate hikes will be more gradual then expected and that Consumer prices (CPI) which are seen above target throughout 2011, will return to levels below the 2.0% target by late 2012, if rates rise as expected.” Again he reiterated that the results of austerity measures will be judged before the BOE will make any conclusions.
We have also seen Unemployment figures from the UK today reporting that figures have risen again by 44,000 to almost 2.5 million in 3 months. The unemployment figure was 7.9% as expected.

Other news came from the Eurozone yesterday where GDP figures were slightly lower than expected however again seemed to be widely ignored by the market.

As you can see from the range above and the subsequent ranges below, although there has been some important data so far this week, we have seen very little movement from the market as there have been no surprises.

The key thing to remember when we are in a flat market is that it can sometimes be the calm before the storm, one piece of data or speech that is delivered can move the market significantly one way or the other.

£/$
Range of the week: 1.5979- 1.6184
Variance of the week on £10k=$205

The US reports its CPI tomorrow so will update you on this on Friday.

£/AUS
Range of the week: 1.5942-1.6218
Variance of the week on £10k=AUS$276

The Australian Dollar was little changed following the release of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s Minutes to the February meeting. The central bank continued with its neutral tone, with strong expansion in the resource sector and improvement in the condition of the global economy offset by spending restraint on the part of consumers.

£/NZD
Range of the week: 2.1131- 2.1517
Variance of the week: on £10k=NZD 386

£/ZAR
Range of the week: 11.6127- 11.8762
Variance of the week: on £10k=ZAR 2,635

It is worth noting that we are up 14.48% since the beginning of the year which give a variance of ZAR 14,680 on £10,000 alone in 7 weeks

£/CAD
Range of the week: 1.5715- 1.5979
Variance of the week: on £10k=CAD 264