Currencies Direct

A potential Frexit is causing one of France’s biggest insurers, Axa to rethink its strategy. With its shares down nearly 5% since the election, investors are now taking Le Pens National Front party seriously. The news that her rival has agreed a pact early this week will calm nerves, but another Brexit style move in […]

The UK economy increased to 0.7% for Q4 of 2016, up from 0.6% the previous quarter. The Gross Domestic Product figures were welcomed by investors, as the pound attempted a rally. The manufacturing industry was given the plaudits as it beat its own expectations, but the ONS slashed estimates for growth in 2016 to 1.8%, […]

With the US markets being closed due to the bank holiday yesterday, volatility was fairly subdued for the Greenback, though the US dollar has opened with some strength this morning as traders realign positions. With Janet Yellen, in her testimony, taking a hawkish tone on the position of the Federal Reserve as an independent body, […]

After a more turbulent market last week, we’re opening this morning on a fairly positive note for Sterling, after the Friday fall which was due to weak Retail Sales figures, which put a turn on the weekly strength. The data suggested that higher inflation is starting to act as a bit of a headwind to […]

Yesterday, Britain’s jobless rate figures were published for Q4 of 2016, indicating an 11-year low of 4.8% as firms keep hiring workers post-Brexit, but wage growth had reduced. The number of people in work grew by 37,000 in Q4, confirming 31.84 million people are in work, up by more than 302,000 employees from a year […]

Yesterday Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen delivered the semi-annual testimony on US monetary policy outlook. Overall Yellen stuck with her previous message from January repeating that the Fed expects to raise rates in the coming year if the US economy continues to perform. Yellen did point out that the Fed needs more clarity on the […]

The European Commission has projected an expansion of 1.5% for the UK after initially suggesting just a 1% growth, seemingly backing the pound for 2017. After initial fears of Brexit causing harm to growth in the UK, they have appeared to have back tracked and now state ‘growth has yet to be affected’. 2016 ended […]

President Trump yesterday managed to excite financial markets as he announced “something phenomenal” on taxes in in the next two or three weeks in a meeting with US airline executives. During a press briefing later on in the day with the White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer confirmed the package will be “comprehensive” and that […]

Early morning yesterday, Sterling slumped sharply before recovering in later trading. The volatility in the pound is not surprising as we move closer to the deadline set for triggering article 50. It seems the pound crashed through on sell orders on the downside especially versus the USD and JPY. The fight back came after key […]

Yesterday, Retail sales figures showed a decrease, which hit the pound slightly. January spending from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) had crept up 0.1% year-on-year, representing a downturn from the 1.7% increase in December and also, the feeblest numbers since August 2016. It led the BRC to state that the New Year may bring more […]