Sterling falls on BOE revelations; Dollar pulls back after home sales disappoint

Thursday, December 24, 2009

GBP

The British Pound Sterling fell on Wednesday, after the release of the Bank of England’s policy meeting minutes were released.

The transcripts showed that all nine members of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee voted in favor of keeping interest rates at ½ of a percent and extend the 200 Billion Pound asset purchasing program.

The impression given by the minutes is that every committee member is sitting on a fence waiting for something to happen, declaring they will re-evaluate the situation in their February meeting.

This lack of leadership or dissent to some degree has unnerved Forex investors who are concerned that the Bank is not acting fast enough to wind down the stimulus measures implemented earlier in the year.

At 10:00 GMT, the Pound was trading down .07% against the US Dollar to 1.5933 after initially falling more than .5%. The Sterling was also down .27% against the Euro to .8946, down .24% versus the Japanese Yen to 146.25, down .47% to the Swiss Franc to 1.6666 and down .64% against the Canadian Dollar to 1.6771.

USD

The US Dollar gave back some its recent gains on Wednesday after a late session data release brought back doubts about the US economic recovery. New Home Sales, which were expected to rise to 440,000 dropped 11% to 355,000.

The October number also came back to ruin the holiday spirit for the Greenback as it was revised downward from 430,000 to 400,000.

The disappointing number was the largest drop since January and brought the housing market back to levels not seen in seven months.

The Dollar had been the benefactor of a spate of positive data in the past week that gave investors confidence in the strength of the recovery, however after five straight positive sessions, it appears as if the Dollar is set to give back some.

Today’s durable goods and initial unemployment numbers could set the tone for the last week of 2009 trading next week.

At 10:10 GMT, the US Dollar was trading down .51% to the Euro to 1.4317, down .44% against the Japanese Yen to 91.42, down .48% to the Canadian Dollar to 1.0521, down .35% versus the Australian Dollar to .8792, down .6% against the New Zealand Dollar to .703 and down .91% to the Swiss Franc to hold in at 1.0396.

Happy Holidays

This is the final Market review before the Christmas Holiday. We wish all of our customers the Merriest of Christmas’, Happiest of Holidays and most Joyful of New Years.

May you realize your dreams in the year to come, have success follow you wherever you go – and may peace fill this planet we all share.

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