Currencies Direct

Yesterday, political news dominated the scene. In the UK, Brexit secretary David Davies and Chancellor Hammond suggested that Britain may continue to make payments to the European Union budget even after Brexit in exchange for access to the single market. The comments caused the pound to strengthen against the dollar as this is the first […]

It’s US non-farm payrolls day, which always is a big event for the US dollar and even more important this time as it is the latest release before the FED meeting. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise interest rates in December as recent economic data have mostly been strong and supporting the case […]

Mark Carney, Bank of England Governor, has issued a warning to all UK households that the annual debt may be spinning out of control. Credit cards and other forms of unsecured debt are at their highest level for a number of years, as consumers carried on using false money for purchases. After releasing Stress Test […]

With regards to the latest Brexit scenario, pro-EU campaigners have, unsurprisingly, declined the backing of a new legal challenge regarding the Brexit outcome. Migration reform and continued access to the single market are key issues that continue to arise throughout the debate, and there are rumours that both could be kept by triggering Article 50, […]

The US dollar ended the week mixed in thin holiday-trading conditions, as traders await key economic data due this week. In terms of data, Friday saw the US Trade Deficit fall to -$62.0b in October, worse than expectation of -$59.2b, while the UK GDP in Q3 was left untouched at 0.5% qq. The main interest […]

Philip Hammond’s Autumn statement yesterday was busy, as he set his sights on curbing Brexit’s potential economic affect. He hopes to use £23bn from the National Productivity Investment Fund on new homes, transport connections, research & development, and invest in the digital sector, hoping to keep the economy booming with the expected downturn in outlook […]

Tonight, we have the FOMC minutes from the last meeting. Currently, the market is over 90% confident that the FOMC will hike interest rates in December and this has been priced in. Therefore, attention for the minutes will be on the 2017 outlook and the scope for future interest rate increases. Any Fed projections will […]

Theresa May spoke yesterday in an attempt to calm fears over Brexit. She acknowledged that the process will be bumpy and time consuming, but stated she was keen to avoid a ‘cliff edge’ of uncertainty for Britain. The new PM has recently stated she is still aiming for March 2017 to activate Article 50, even […]

In the week ahead, we’ll get the post Brexit Autumn Statement from the UK, which will provide us with a detailed outlook for the public finances. The statement is likely to lean towards increased borrowing and higher deficits, which could leave the UK vulnerable in the event of an economic shock. Meanwhile, over in the […]

Yesterday, all eyes were on Janet Yellen’s testimony on the economic outlook, delivered before the Joint Economic Committee. Yellen readied markets for an interest rate rise to come ‘relatively soon’, noting that the case for a hike would continue to strengthen as long as the macroeconomic environment remained strong.   She also signalled the need […]