Currency analysis for EUR & GBP

EUR

The Euro took a hit from the US Dollar and Japanese Yen today as fears of a sharp downturn in Eastern Euorpe. On Wednesday, a first-tier rating company, Fitch, downgraded Russian foreign and domestic currency ratings. It has been widely speculated that Russia has been hit the hardest during the economic crisis as Oil prices have declined sharply, but Fitch’s declaration demonstrated how bad Russia really is. And with so many ties to the EU countries that it trades with, the fears for the stability of the Euro are now called into question. The EUR/USD was down over 1% at 3:30 GMT to 1.2903 and just under 1% against the Yen to 115.6.

GBP

The Bank of England is expected to slash their interest rates to the lowest level on record, 1%. In advance of the move the Pound is down against the dollar at 1.4509 dpw about ½ of 1 percent. With Prime Minister Brown making doomsday statements and the central bank on the verge of lowering rates to their lowest levels ever, it seems as if the Euro is in for a bumpy ride in the coming days.