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By Alex Ellis

Sterling exchange rates fell a cent yesterday as the market reels in the build up to New Years. In the new year we will see VAT rise to 20% as well as further budget cuts and austerity measures being introduced. If you have an upcoming currency exchange then there is the possibility that GBP/EUR exchange rates will fall further following this.

We have seen recently investors move away from those currencies currently seen as riskier and into those historically seen as safer havens – an example of this is the recent strength seen for the US dollar. At present the pound is still seen as a risky currency as the economy is still not growing rapidly.

By Alex Ellis

As I am sure you are aware, Ireland has been one of the most talked about economies in recent times as it became apparent that their economy was insolvent. Although a bailout has been agreed there is now the added fear of contagion to other economies within the Eurozone – Portugal, Spain and Italy are the most heavily mentioned followed closely by Belgium.

Belgium is the newest country to be mentioned alongside the typical PIIGS and this is because as the cost of their debt is 100% of their annual income. I believe that over the next few weeks we will see more and more releases that will show just how sluggish the recovery has been for the Euro zone. In my experience the Euro zone will quite often keep their cards very close to their chest whereas the UK and US are very upfront about the state of their economies.

If you have an upcoming currency purchase then use Curreny Line to contact an experienced currency broker and ensure that you minimise your risk when committing to any form of currency exchange.

By Alex Ellis

Sterling is strengthening significantly following a number of positive data releases for the currency, sterling has currently hit the highest levels for 7 weeks against the Euro following a 10 month high against the Dollar the week before. This follows the news from the Bank of England that they may not need to extend the Quantitative Easing programme despite the sluggish economic growth. QE was the cause of the weakness initially and therefore we have now seen some hefty swings in sterling’s direction.

Meanwhile in Euro zone news, European GDP figures released on Friday showed that the area’s largest economies France and Germany, were in fact showing much slower economic growth than first thought. The news that the larger economies are slowing will concern many investors and couple this with the fact that the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) are still very much in a recession and the future for the Euro is looking very bleak.

For up to date market news and potential impacting factors on your currency exchange use Currency Line to contact an aware winning currency broker who can help to guide you through the process.

By Alex Ellis

Sterling has rallied today as it has been announced that there will be no extension to the Bank of England’s QE programme. This was seen as positive news for the UK as the recent weakness has been caused by the threat of an extension to this programme. With the recent positive GDP figure I dont think we will see an extension to the austerity measures until at least the beginning of next year.

Therefore if you have an upcoming currency purchase you may want to conduct this before the year’s close to avoid any pitfalls caused by an extension to the Quantitative Easing programme.

In other currency news the pound is sat at a 9 month high against the Dollar, following better than expected housing data this morning. This tied in with the news that the Bank of England will not be extending their QE programme has ked to some strong developments for sterling.

By Alex Ellis

Sterling is currently experiencing a rally as exchange rates have improved by around 1.8% since market open yesterday, this is following UK GDP data which was released yesterday. The predicition was for the economy to slow to a growth of 0.4% whereas in fact it slowed to 0.8%, which is still seen as fairly positive growth.

This meant that sterling improved across the board, although it remains to be seen how long this strength will last. I personally feel that the Euro is heavily overvalued at the moment as the ECB has remained very coy about the future and any form of bailout package. The UK and the US have remained very open about their intentions and this could benefit them in the longer term. If the Eurozone does have to implement austerity measures then these will come as more of a shock because the ECB have remained so quiet.

Yesterday’s GDP figure has prolonged any extension to the Bank of England’s QE programme and could in fact mean that no further extensions will be seen at all.

In any event when the market remains volatile it is sensible to seek the advice of a professional within the industry and in this case this is a currency broker. Using Currency Line you can be put in touch with an award winning currency broker who can help to guide you through the process.