British Pound Sterling News, Guides, Forecasts & Provider Reviews. Stay on top of GBP exchange rates, charts and rate changes in the major GBP cross currency pairs for day, week and quarter periods. This allows you to take advantage of any market moves as well as the low margins from our online currency and foreign payment partners to ensure you get the best possible exchange rates deals.
Property debt crisis in China, central bank bond policy and the energy crisis are combining for a volatile October - it is ever thus!
Fears Chinese mega developer Evergrande’s collapse will spark a contagion event and the ongoing European gas crisis has hit confidence.
Volatility returned to the currency markets last week with the Australian and New Zealand Dollar falling the hardest against the Greenback (both down 1W -3.0%).
Speculation abounds on whether the RBNZ will be the first to hike rates, this helped the NZD to rise to 1 year highs versus the Aussie dollar.
Last week’s big event was the strong US Non-Farms Payrolls report for July.
The British Pound GBP was a mover and shaker last week, hitting HIGHS against both the USD (30-DAY), EUR (90-DAY) and other major FX.
The way out from the UK’s experiment of lifting most lockdown measures is far from certain.
Currency markets move when both the Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the Bank of Canada shift on their bond buying plans and interest rate outlooks.
The growth outlook for the Australian economic became pessimistic when more lockdowns were announced due to rising COVID-19 cases in Sydney.
US Non-Farm Payrolls report was a mixed result - the Unemployment Rate moved higher but Wages slipped.
Fed Officials mixed opinions following last week’s hawkish bent reduces markets perception of sooner rate rises.
Last week the US Federal Reserve moved its growth forecasts higher and brought forward the timing of its interest rate hikes to 2023.
Review of Currency Market trends and news from last week.
Friday was a volatile day in currency markets after a much weaker than expected US jobs report was released.
Softening US Treasury yields surprised the markets last week, shifting tailwinds away from the US dollar towards risk-on currencies.
The strong US stock markets and higher yields from treasury bonds may be the catalyst for strong swings for currencies versus the USD.
The GBP to USD exchange rate has been and remains one of the most interesting currency pairs to forecast. The GBP/USD can be affected by a number of factors and this makes it a volatile exchange rate at times.
The pound to euro exchange rate direction is being driven by the energy crisis and the lingering impact of the pandemic on full reopening of the economies in England and the Eurozone.
The energy crisis has taken over from the coronavirus pandemic as the main theme of GBP to AUD forecasts into 2022
GBP/INR forecasts change all the time, affected by news events and relative sentiment towards the UK and Indian economies and this exchange rate is even more volatile than usual because of the uncertainties around the Coranavirus pandemic.
In 2021 forecasts and predictions for the CAD/GBP exchange rate have been driven almost entirely by the Coronavirus pandemic rather than any fundamentals or relative sentiment towards the Canadian and British economies.
The UK is highly exposed to gas prices and inflation and the pound has fallen 2.5% over the past six months.
New Year brings a weak US dollar and chaos in Washington DC with Capitol Hill reduced to a riot zone and President Trump impeached for a second time.
On Thursday Turkey’s central bank finally caved into financial markets and jacked up interest rates by a hefty 4.75 per cent raising the benchmark rate to 15 per cent promising to remain tough on inflation.
The recent period has been volatile for currency markets tossed about by US election uncertainty, stimulus spending doubts and both good and bad news from the COVID-19 frontline.
The Euro is slumping as France and Germany resume national lockdowns to combat surging second-wave Covid cases.
In this article we take a look at Lloyds Bank and examine how Lloyds exchange rates & international money transfer services compare to other options available to you.
We review Revolut, a digital bank that allows users to receive, send and spend money at the interbank exchange rate.
TransferWise’s Borderless Account allows users to hold and convert funds in 40 different currencies and send and spend internationally, all at the “real” exchange rate and with exceptionally low service fees. Users can also receive major-currency payments free of charge.
OFX Global Currency Account – Independent BER Review OFX Global Currency Account: A Summary OFX has a 30-year history and is one of the largest foreign exchange specialists in the world. It offers a “Global Currency Account” that allows online sellers to hold, send and receive funds in GBP, EUR, USD, AUD, CAD and HKD. […]
Currency rates were extremely volatile last week as the coronavirus situation worsened day by day with various countries implementing ever-tougher measures to stop the spread of the disease.
This week the US Dollar was touching three-year highs when valued against a basket of major currencies. The greenback's traditional role as one of the safe-haven currencies is helped by a domestic economy that is largely immune to the threats of the coronavirus.
The strong start to the year for "risk-on" currencies is already a distant memory.
The threat of a proxy war between the US and Iran in Iraq has pared back some of the recent gains of "risk-on" currencies.
Both the Australian dollar and British pound sterling have had a hard time of late caught between the rock of the China/US trade war and the Brexit hard place.
The RBA has cut Australian interest rates to a record low of 1 percent in an effort to boost inflation. The Australian dollar is slightly stronger following the widely expected decision but is expected to lose 5–7 percent of its value before year-end.
The British pound was the worst-performing major currency in the April-June period and remains “impossible to forecast” amid a Tory leadership battle that might force "no deal” or a general election.
With AUD-THB at a 10-year low, Australians travelling this year to Thailand's wildly popular resorts are facing holiday costs 50 percent higher than those paid in 2012. With exchange rates as they are, those in Oz are choosing better-value destinations.
Lifted by oil, economic data and the Fed, the Canadian dollar has soared against the US dollar to a 16-week high and has reached even more impressive milestones against the pound, euro and Australian dollar.
The Australian dollar is at or near multi-month lows against a number of major currencies in spite of a rampant iron ore market — once a great influence on AUD.
The UK economy is shrinking, as is the pound, which is buying less than 1.12 euros for the first time since mid-January. Investors are becoming increasingly unsettled over Brexit, particularly with Boris Johnson a hot favourite to become the UK's next prime minister.
Investors dumped the US dollar on Friday after US jobs data came in well short of estimates and cemented expectations for lower US interest rates. In the coming months, the greenback might maintain its value based on safe haven inflows and looser monetary policies in other parts of the world.
The Australian dollar remains stable in the high US$0.69s following the RBA’s decision on Tuesday to cut Australian interest rates to a record low of 1.25 percent.
A “no deal” Brexit remains highly unlikely according to experts at Goldman Sachs and ING, and as such the pound is grossly undervalued and could rise strongly from current levels.
The currencies of Malaysia and Singapore were trading at 6-month lows against the dollar on Wednesday following news that the US had added the Southeast Asian nations to its watchlist of suspected currency manipulators.
The British pound fell on Wednesday for a record thirteenth consecutive day against the euro. The currency is taking a Brexit-induced beating days before May’s half-term school break — a popular time in the UK for family holidays.
The British pound fell on Wednesday towards a 3-month low against the euro and US dollar as attention turned back to Brexit and after lower-than-expected wage growth lessened prospects for a Bank of England rate hike.
The US-China trade war is hotting up and that’s bad news for the Australian dollar, which slipped on Monday to a 4-month low against the dollar, euro and yen.
The Canadian dollar might be worth considerably more towards the end of this year based on research by Scotiabank analysts who describe the currency as being “egregiously” undervalued.
The RBA left interest rates on hold at 1.5 percent on Tuesday, spurring big gains for the Australian dollar, which had slipped beforehand to long-term lows against several major currencies. Roughly half of economists had expected rates to be cut by 25 basis points.
Seasonal weakness, election uncertainty, strong technical support and oil market complications should be more than sufficient to spur an AUD/INR rally into mid-year.
Constructive Brexit talks between UK politicians have imparted a sense of renewed optimism that has lifted the British pound to a 2-week high against the dollar and to a 3-week high against the euro.
A turbocharged US dollar is likely to be “stronger for longer” after reaching long-term highs against a host of major currencies, including the euro, Swiss franc and Swedish krona.
The Swiss franc continued its shocking run of form on Tuesday, slipping against the euro to its weakest level in 6 months.
HSBC has reaffirmed its US66¢ year-end forecast for the Australian dollar, thereby signalling an upcoming 8 percent slide in the world’s fifth most traded currency.
What is arguably Southeast Asia’s most important exchange rate, Singapore dollar-Malaysian ringgit, leapt on Thursday to its highest level since November 2017, driven by FTSE Russell’s decision to reconsider Malaysia’s inclusion in an important bond index.
The Australian dollar is forecast to climb to US$0.74 in the coming months, supported by a commodities boom that has seen the price of Australia’s largest export, iron ore, climb to a 5-year high.
With the chance of a 2019 Brexit now reduced to 50 percent, the pound’s value is likely to remain capped for the time being, most likely near US$1.34, experts say. On the downside, US$1.24 is likely should the latest Article 50 extension be used to hold a UK general election.
The euro hasn’t traded as low as US$1.08 since the early portion of 2017, but that’s where we’re heading within the next 3 months, analysts at ANZ believe.
The Australian dollar-New Zealand dollar exchange rate rose on Friday to a 10-week high as traders continue to make bets on monetary policy divergence between the RBA and RBNZ. Even higher rates are expected by teams at TD Securities and Societe Generale.
Research has highlighted the popularity of bitcoin for large payments, including those across borders. By transaction volume, bitcoin has nearly caught up with Mastercard and may in future overtake the market leader, Visa. In the markets, bitcoin’s sudden surge earlier this week is yet to be explained.
Goldman Sachs is backing British MPs to soon find a way through the current political deadlock, after which a “big finish” is expected by the British pound. Meanwhile, pessimism surrounds the Australian and New Zealand dollars, both of which have fallen to multi-week lows.
For much of this year, banks have been betting on further Australian dollar deprecation, but after last week’s RBNZ shocker, they have also given a thumbs down to the New Zealand dollar.
The New Zealand dollar plummeted on Wednesday after the RBNZ said its next move on interest rates was likely to be a cut.
Developments this week make a “benign Brexit outcome” the most probable and offer reason enough to be favouring British pound appreciation for the foreseeable future, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch have said.
Given what should have been obvious advantages, the Australian dollar’s inability to gain against the US dollar last week is an ominous sign that suggests further Aussie depreciation in the near term.
The US dollar crumbled on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled it would keep interest rates unchanged throughout 2019, thereby backtracking on the two rate hikes it predicted in December.
Amid declining interest, the Chicago Board Options Exchange, or CBOE, has announced it will no longer offer bitcoin futures contracts once current contracts expire in June.
A slight advance in AUD/USD this week to $0.705 is hardly cause for celebration; however, the stability this represents following 3 weeks of losses would normally signify reduced currency pessimism—in this case, it doesn’t even do that.
The pound fell rapidly away from long-term highs on Tuesday morning after Britain’s Attorney General said that the “legally binding” assurances secured on Monday night by Theresa May merely “reduced the risk” of the UK being trapped in a permanent backstop.
US jobs growth of only 20,000 in February, versus expected growth of 180,000, has allowed rest-of-the-world currencies to claw back ground against the US dollar which, until Friday, had been on a stellar run.
After a friendless Friday, the Canadian dollar has continued to lose value at the start of the new week. Now worth C$1.332 per USD, the loonie is at a 12-day low, but it has far further to fall if CIBC’s fair value estimation of C$1.4 is anything to go by.
The British pound has hit a 21-month high against the euro following increased speculation of a delayed Brexit and after Britain’s opposition party leader said he would now back a second referendum on EU membership.
The British pound was in high demand on Tuesday ahead of an important meeting between British PM Theresa May and EU officials, at which investors are hoping for a Brexit breakthrough.
Those intending to pick up euros this week should consider heeding warnings offered by MUFG. The bank expects the euro to move towards cheaper levels in the coming days and it would therefore be unwise to pay rates offered on Monday.
Against a basket of currencies, the US dollar struck an 8-week high on Tuesday after US lawmakers reached an agreement on border security funding and as hopes build for a breakthrough in US-China trade talks.
Cryptocurrencies exploded on Friday for reasons not fully understood by analysts. Litecoin was among the day’s stars, gaining 30 percent. Brokers, though, remain skeptical about the rally’s sustainability.
Further losses on Friday cemented the Australian dollar’s status as the week’s worst performing major currency. Depreciation has been driven by Australia's central bank, which has slashed forecasts for 2019/20 economic growth and signaled it could lower interest rates.
The pound rejected sub-US$1.29 levels on Thursday even after the Bank of England slashed growth forecasts, indicating underlying strength. Analysts say that the pound will rally to buy US$1.40 should Theresa May secure the EU concessions needed to pass her Brexit withdrawal agreement.
With a number of Australian data releases, RBA statements and forecasts on the economic calendar, the Australian dollar is likely to be in the headlines this week, for good or bad.
The pound is back trading in the US$1.30s after British MPs rejected a proposal to delay the UK’s exit from the European Union, which analysts say increases the likelihood of "no deal."
The Australian dollar was little changed on Tuesday despite what should be AUD-supportive remarks from an RBA board member. The Aussie remains subdued ahead of important inflation data, a Fed meeting and a second round of trade talks between the US and China.
The US dollar recorded its largest one-day fall in nearly 3 months on Friday as the attention of traders turned back towards an increasingly cautious Federal Reserve.
Within recent days, a host of experts have cut forecasts for the Australian dollar, indicating a new wave of pessimism on what is already the past year's worst-performing major currency.
The euro is under siege following disappointing data and news this week that Germany barely escaped a recession in 2018. The ECB will now wait longer before raising interest rates, analysts say; however, EUR/USD will still end the year higher. In South Africa, a prediction by the country’s central bank that interest rates will be raised only once before 2021 put an end to the rand’s great start to the year.
Despite a crushing defeat for Prime Minister May’s Brexit deal on Tuesday night and a motion of no confidence tabled against the British government—which the government survived on Wednesday—the pound is close to multi-week highs. In emerging markets, the Thai baht remains an outperformer.
Ahead of Tuesday’s “meaningful vote” on the Brexit withdrawal agreement, the British pound has strengthened to a 7-week high against the dollar—evidence that investors are increasingly optimistic that a soft Brexit can be achieved.
Late last week, EUR/USD failed to hold gains above $1.15, disappointing traders who had hoped for a big breakout. For 2019, experts still believe in higher EUR/USD rates, although the euro will likely lose value relative to the pound on any soft-Brexit options. In the short term, too, it may be in trouble.
The Australian dollar has rallied strongly following last Thursday’s “flash crash” and, like the Canadian dollar, is expected to outperform its peers in the near term. Investors remain willing to take on risk but the US dollar remains soft. In Asia, the yuan is expected to weaken beyond ¥7 within the next 6 months.
Against a basket of currencies, the US dollar climbed on Friday to an 18-month high as investors sought safer assets in the aftermath of disappointing economic and political developments in Europe and China. Given a growing consensus for dollar weakness in 2019, now might mark an opportune moment for exchanging dollars into foreign currency.
The Australian dollar has offered broad stability in recent days—a welcome change from last week’s sharp decline. The Aussie will likely trade higher over the coming months, Goldman Sachs has said, although anything goes for AUD/GBP on Wednesday as a vote of no confidence in the British Prime Minister takes place.
The British pound was hammered on Monday following news that a House of Commons vote on the proposed EU withdrawal agreement has been cancelled. Against the US dollar, sterling fell to its lowest level since April 2017.
Credit Agricole is seemingly rolling the dice on the British pound ahead of a hugely important vote in the House of Commons on Tuesday—a vote that will likely shape the nature of Brexit. Via the options market, the French bank is betting on an increase in the pound’s value.
The British pound weakened against all major currencies on Thursday, a day after the Bank of England offered a stark warning on Brexit. Under a “no deal” outcome, sterling will lose between 15 and 25 percent of its value, the Bank said.
Weakness in the Australian dollar since Friday is to be short-lived, experts at National Australia Bank have said. A rally in AUD/USD to 0.74 is on the cards, as are politically-driven moves in EUR/GBP and EUR/CHF towards 0.92 and 1.2.
The Australian dollar is benefitting from disarray in Europe and upbeat employment data. The day’s biggest news comes from Europe, though, where the British pound suffered one of its largest intraday declines in recent years following the resignation of the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator.
The Australian and New Zealand dollar currencies were way out in front this week on the list of top performing FX majors. The Canadian dollar, meanwhile, continues to suffer from what is now a technical bear market in crude oil. Sterling is again under Brexit-related pressure amid reports of potential UK ministerial resignations.
FX markets lacked volatility on Tuesday ahead of US midterm elections, the results of which will begin to trickle in after 7pm EST. November typically represents the best month of the year for USD and recent losses arguably offer a grab-it-now opportunity to get the currency at improved exchange rates.
The mood was buoyant in foreign exchange markets on Thursday following news that the UK has achieved a deal with the EU on financial services that would give London’s banks continued access to European markets post-Brexit. Together with the pound, currencies that benefit from the switch to “risk on,” like the Australian dollar and New […]
Developments outside the US allowed for the dollar to appreciate against a basket of currencies to a sixteen-month high on Wednesday. The ICE-maintained US dollar Index, which provides a weighted-mean measure of the greenback’s value against the euro, British pound, Swiss franc, Canadian dollar, Japanese yen and Swedish krona, traded above 97.0 for the second […]
The Canadian dollar received a significant boost on Wednesday after the Bank of Canada said it would “need to raise [interest rates] to a neutral stance to achieve the inflation target.” As widely expected, the BoC also hiked its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to 1.75 percent. The Canadian dollar strengthened by nearly a […]
The British pound showed resilience on Tuesday in the face of data showing the fastest decline in UK manufacturing orders in three years. Pound uncertainty prevails, however, and a vote of no confidence in British P.M. Theresa May draws closer.
All eyes on Wednesday will be on the meeting between EU leaders and British Prime Minister Theresa May in Brussels, at which some still hope a Brexit deal might be struck. Expect volatility in sterling and euro rates throughout the evening. Meanwhile, the Swedish krona continues to outperform in Europe on expectations for tighter Riksbank policy.
This week’s flight from risky assets, evident from massive losses in equities, has yet to affect the risk-sensitive Australian dollar. The yen is firmer though, bitcoin has finally broken lower and options traders are paying up for protection against future sterling volatility.
The Brexit-driven EUR/GBP exchange rate opened on Monday at a 3 ½-month low as investors continue to bet on the UK and EU striking a deal. Against the dollar, the euro will be worth as much as 13 percent more next year, according to a new forecast from ING.
It’s no time to be brave with your British pounds, think foreign exchange experts at Crédit Agricole. “Stay conservative; avoid GBP,” the bank’s research team wrote on Tuesday. The pound has had a mixed year. As of writing, its 3.9 percent year-to-date loss against the US dollar ($1.299) is balanced by a 5.2 percent gain […]
A gain last week of 1.9 percent marked the Australian dollar’s best weekly performance versus the US dollar since December. The Aussie rebound continued with a touch of the $0.73 handle on Friday. Australia’s currency had been worth less than $0.71 just 10 days earlier. It settled for the week at $0.7285. Further to gains […]
The British pound has been sold widely on Friday following Thursday’s comprehensive rejection by EU leaders of the UK’s proposed Brexit deal—the “Chequers” plan. The Chequers plan, which outlines terms for the UK’s departure from the EU and which includes a “combined customs territory” on the Irish border, “would not work,” said European Council President […]
There was widespread relief among emerging market investors on Thursday after the Turkish central bank finally raised interest rates to protect the embattled lira. Elsewhere, the dollar lost value for a fourth consecutive day and ethereum stabilized after a ten-day fall.
The Norwegian krone was the best performing G10 currency on Monday. The krone benefitted from better-than-expected inflation data and an uptick in European sentiment that followed this weekend’s Swedish election and Michel Barnier's prediction that a Brexit deal will be concluded within 6-8 weeks.
The euro fell sharply against the British pound on Friday after the EU's chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, said he was determined to strike a deal with the UK. A near-perfect Head and Shoulders pattern now indicates a move in EUR/GBP into the high 0.87s.
The currency situation in Argentina is becoming desperate. In a single three-hour period on Thursday, the Argentine peso shed 19 percent of its value as it slid to 41.47 to the dollar. The peso had already lost 45 percent since January. With the peso’s spiral downwards, default risk in Argentina moves ever higher, resulting in […]
The US dollar and Japanese yen soared on Friday as traders fled risk-sensitive currencies. Turmoil in emerging market FX is being led by the Turkish lira, which fell 15 percent in twelve hours after President Trump doubled tariffs on Turkish steel and aluminium imports.
Entering the second trading week of August, the Canadian dollar remains at or near multi-month highs against many of the world's major currencies. The "loonie" has been well supported since the end of June following a hawkish repricing of Canadian interest rate expectations.
The US dollar made inroads against most of the world’s currencies on Thursday as trade fears forced investors into safer assets.
Trade tensions were eased on Wednesday after the US announced it had agreed to work towards zero tariffs on “non-auto industrial goods” with the European Union. Unlike equity markets, which rallied strongly on the news, FX markets were little changed on Thursday morning.
Traders offloaded Chinese yuan and Australian dollars on Wednesday after the US government said it would introduce 10 percent tariffs on a further $200 billion worth of Chinese goods.
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It was a disappointing end to the week for the US dollar but enough was achieved between Monday and Thursday for it to record its best week since bubbling over in the aftermath of Donald Trump’s election in November 2016. Investors piled into dollars as yields rose amid a massive increase in the supply of […]
Thursday and Friday saw the Swiss franc slide through the symbolic 1.2 per euro level at which the Swiss National Bank capped the franc’s value prior to “Francogeddon” in January 2015. The franc has weakened steadily since it traded at 0.965 per euro in the aftermath of the SNB’s abrupt abolition of the currency cap, […]
Little has been felt in foreign exchange markets from the UK’s recent political entanglement with Russia, which escalated last week with a tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats. The pound gained last week against both the dollar and euro and will remain steady for the foreseeable future, according to the collective opinion of FX analysts surveyed by […]
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Among the world’s ten most actively traded currencies, it was the Chinese yuan that was leading the pack approaching the end of the Asian business week. Last week: majors all down Aussie dollar (AUD) was down last week, retreating from US0.80 cents, on Australia’s disappointing rise in private sector wages, their massive contraction […]
Last week’s much-improved US inflation data had the desired effect on US rate expectations which have adjusted to indicate a 100% probability of the Federal Reserve raising interest rates in March. Ordinarily, such a revision to expectations would fuel a transfer of hot money into US dollars, yet dollar traders continue to chart their own […]
During a week which saw global equity markets suffer their largest losses in two years and broader market volatility pick up, foreign exchange markets were surprisingly calm. A flight to safety benefitted the US dollar, which finished higher against a basket of currencies for the second consecutive week; and the Japanese yen, which at one […]
The U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) suffered its worst one-day decline in ten months on Friday in spite of an unexpected acceleration in the rate of core inflation and what appeared to be an upward revision to U.S. interest rate expectations. After the Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that U.S. consumer prices, excluding food and energy, […]
The Australian dollar is set for a double-digit (11%) fall to just 68 US cents in the coming eighteen months, according to the revised forecast of Australia’s fourth largest bank, Westpac. In a note to clients, the team at Westpac said this week that it sees a fall from Friday’s AUD/USD 3 Month Chart Regular […]
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The Russian ruble has been one of the most volatile emerging market currencies in recent years, and it ended this trading week in much the same way. On Friday, USD/RUB’s high-low range ran close to 1.1 rubles, marking the Russian currency’s most volatile session since July. Yesterday’s excitement in USD/RUB was largely the result of […]
The South Korean won climbed to a seven-week high against the dollar on Wednesday (a USD/KRW low) of 1123.3 after third-quarter GDP data showed South Korea’s economy growing at its fastest pace in seven years. Third-quarter growth of 1.4% was well above the median estimate of 1.0% and an improvement on second-quarter expansion of 0.6%. […]
Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison expressed no discomfort with the current valuation of the Australian dollar this weekend. In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Morrison said that Australian exporters had adapted to a currency that was now 9.3% higher against the US dollar ($0.7873) and nearly 4% higher against the Chinese yuan (¥ 5.1954) than it […]
At 2:30pm local time (GMT+11) on Tuesday, the Reserve Bank of Australia will announce its latest decision on interest rates. No change is expected to the RBA’s cash rate which has been held at a record low of 1.5% since August 2016, and therefore, once again, the spotlight will be shone on the RBA’s accompanying […]
“We were wrong,” said HSBC’s head of strategy David Bloom as he cancelled the bank’s forecast for the euro to reach parity with sterling this year. For much of 2017, HSBC analysts have been among the gloomiest on sterling with their predictions for continued declines in the currency against both the euro and dollar. Bloom had […]
US ratings agency Moody’s has downgraded the UK’s credit rating from Aa1 to Aa2 over concerns for the future of the UK’s public finances. The ratings outlook is now “stable”, from “negative”. Moody’s stripped the UK of its AAA rating back in 2013. “The outlook for the UK’s public finances has weakened significantly since the […]
New forecasts from Dutch bank ABN Amro see continued weakness in the US dollar heading into and throughout 2018. “We have a strong conviction that the US dollar has entered a multi-year downtrend,” said ABN’s Georgette Boele. The dollar will be hardest hit against “growth sensitive and commodity currencies,” according to the bank, which include […]
The British pound rose on Friday to its highest level against the dollar since the UK’s historic ‘Brexit’ vote in June of last year. By lunchtime in London, the pound was buying $1.3616, capping a brilliant fortnight in which it has risen from rates close to $1.29. On minor profit taking, the currency settled back […]
The Singapore dollar has begun the week cautiously. Against the US dollar, having risen on Friday to a one-year high of 0.7493, the currency of Asia’s ‘Lion City’ conceded some ground on Monday and Tuesday, with SGD/USD falling back below 0.745. A retreat in the pair was likely given last week’s approach to major technical […]
The New Zealand dollar sank on Monday morning against the other FX majors amid uncertainty over New Zealand’s future government and on the back of a continuation in weak sales data. Advanced voting in New Zealand’s general election begins on Monday, ahead of election day on September 23rd, and while polls indicate no clear favourite, […]
Asia’s best performing currency, the Thai baht, isn’t done yet, said both Scotiabank and Standard Chartered in recent days. USD/THB, which has fallen (the baht has risen) 7% this year, is set for a further 7% fall to levels around ฿31 in 2018 according to Standard Chartered, from Monday’s exchange rate of ฿33.25. Analysts at […]
Fuelled by a return to “risk-on” amid easing geopolitical tensions and ahead of a crucial employment report, the Australian dollar rose broadly and was the currency world’s best performer yesterday. Notable exchange rates include AUD/NZD, which rallied to a fifteen-week high of N$1.087, and AUD/GBP, which rallied to a four-and-a-half-month high of £0.616. A notable […]
The yen fell by nearly a percent yesterday against the US dollar – its biggest one-day fall in six weeks – as investors regained their appetite for risk amid an easing of the tense situation surrounding North Korea. The yen, which has long been considered the FX world’s premier safe haven, typically falls in value […]
HSBC and Morgan Stanley are in agreement: The euro will rally to reach parity (1.0) with the British pound within the next 4-8 months. This consensus has been formed after Morgan Stanley this week released their latest forecasts which show EUR/GBP at 1.02 by the end of March next year. HSBC had already publicly forecast […]
Tuesday’s Asian session was stirred by a surprise surge in the Chinese yuan. Starting around 9:30am in Beijing, the yuan began rallying strongly against the dollar, with offshore rates declining (the yuan strengthening) to 6.7024 by 1pm, from rates earlier in the session around 6.73. Onshore yuan easily broke the 6.7 level and as of writing […]
The British pound is set to fall by as much as 15% by the end of 2017 according to Guy Petcho of Voya Investment Management. Petcho, who formerly was a part of George Soros’ investing team, said in an interview with Reuters on Friday that a turn for the worse in UK economic growth will […]
The New Zealand dollar continued yesterday to retrace its broad May-June uptrend, falling to a one-month low against the British pound and euro, and to a three-month low against the Canadian dollar. NZD/GBP, NZD/EUR and NZD/CAD fell to 0.5583, 0.6293 and 0.9305 respectively. Although the kiwi has fallen across the board in recent weeks, it […]
The Malaysian ringgit was Asia’s worst performing currency in 2016, having suffered from a slump in the oil price, a general deterioration in Malaysia’s economic outlook and a far-reaching political and economic scandal involving the country’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak, and billions of lost dollars from Malaysia’s state development fund. With that said, in 2017, […]
“Hedge funds are selling yen this week, and positive comments from Yellen could give them an excuse to sell even more,” said Kaneo Ogino of FX research group Global-Info Co yesterday. Ogino’s comments came at the end of yesterday’s New York session which ended with the yen trading at ¥111.84 against the dollar, marking a […]
In an interview with CNBC journalists on Thursday, Beat Wittmann of Porta Advisors – a man with more than 30 years of investment experience, including time spent at UBS, Credit Suisse and Julius Baer – expressed his belief that the British pound is set for further significant falls over the coming year as a result […]
A rally in the US dollar prompted by moderately hawkish Fed speakers pushed emerging market Asian currencies such as the Thai baht, Philippine peso and Malaysian ringgit lower on Tuesday. Asian currencies from developed economies but which nonetheless remain second tier and under the “emerging” umbrella, such as the Korean won and the Taiwan dollar, […]
Better exchange rates may be available from our other UK providers. For a comparison of today’s best online currency deals, goto our comparison calculators for Foreign Transfers and Travel Money. Minimum Order Values Euro (€) / US Dollars ($) Orders The minimum order value for Euro and US Dollars is £50 or the equivalent of […]
Having been one of Asia’s worst performing currencies for some time, the Malaysian ringgit has turned a corner recently; a small corner, but a corner nonetheless. The ringgit is now clearly trending upwards against the US dollar, albeit on low volatility, and is up nearly 6% since lows in mid-November. One ringgit now buys more […]
A combination of this morning’s FOMC meeting and weaker than expected GDP data pushed the New Zealand dollar down against a broad group of currencies on Thursday. Data released by Stats NZ on Thursday morning showed that GDP rose 0.5% in the first quarter, which although higher than a 0.4% print in the fourth quarter, was comfortably […]
This morning, investors learned that the Westpac-Melbourne Institute (WMI) survey of Australian consumer sentiment fell last month by 1.8% and remained in “pessimist” territory for the seventh consecutive month. The survey is seen by many analysts as an important gauge of the Australian public’s willingness to spend, which is itself an important driver of the […]
Very early this morning in Asia, Bank of Canada (BOC) Council member Carolyn Wilkins lit a fire under the Canadian dollar with her remarks to an audience at the Asper School of Business in Winnipeg, in which she hinted at a possible rate hike by the BOC. Wilkins said that “as growth continues…the Governing Council […]
The New Zealand dollar was the best performing of the FX majors in May. By the month’s end, the currency had gained 2.9% against the US dollar, beating a resurgent euro, which gained 2.6%, into first place. The rapid appreciation of New Zealand’s currency, which has been attributed by Citi Bank to improving trade, strength […]
The UK is on course for a hung parliament following yesterday’s general election and the British currency has tumbled to multi-week lows against most currencies. As of 3am GMT, with around half of the votes counted, it looks fairly likely that the ruling Conservative party will win the most seats, but that it will fall […]
Significant exchange rate volatility should be expected on Thursday and Friday with the following major events on the calendar. UK General Election GBP/USD 3 Month Chart On Thursday, British voters will go to the polling stations to vote in their general election. Campaigning in the election has been interrupted by terrorist attacks in London […]
The US dollar fell across the board yesterday and the Dollar Index (USDX/DXY) fell to 96.67 – its lowest in nearly seven months – following a highly disappointing US jobs report. For traders, the monthly report, which includes numbers for US non-farm payrolls, average hourly earnings growth, as well as the unemployment and participation rates, […]
Late on Tuesday night, the British pound fell two-thirds of a cent against the dollar to 1.2789 following results from the latest YouGov poll, which indicate that the UK’s ruling Conservative party will fall 16 seats short of an outright majority and that Britain faces a hung parliament after its general election on June 8th. […]
Of the FX majors, the New Zealand dollar has been the best performer in May. At the end of yesterday’s New York session, with NZD/USD at 0.754, the pair is up 2.9% since May 1st. By comparison, the kiwi’s closest cousin, the Australian dollar, is down 0.5% against the US dollar. The New Zealand dollar […]
In the past several hours, the euro has surged following the release of comments from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who has said that the single currency is “too weak” for Germany – weakness which is “due to the ECB’s policy” and which “makes German goods…comparatively cheap.” As of writing at 13:35 GMT, the euro is […]
In the four-weeks leading up to last Friday’s close (May 12th), the Japanese yen had been one of the world’s worst performing currencies against the US dollar, falling 4.3% within that time. The yen’s weakness during that period marks one hell of a turnaround from the four-weeks immediately prior, in which the yen was one […]
It was a quiet day in markets on Friday. The VIX index closed at 10.4, marginally higher than Monday’s dismal close in the index at 9.8, but remains near to multi-decade lows. Commodities prices – key drivers of CAD, AUD, NZD and emerging market currencies – traded in narrow ranges. US WTI oil traded within […]
There is good news for those in the US, Europe, Japan, Singapore, the UK, New Zealand, Taiwan, India, Mexico and just about anywhere at all, and that news is: that the Australian dollar is offering itself up for sale, in a buy 1 get all special. If you’ve always dreamt of cuddling that koala, buying […]
Former Rothschild banker and centrist candidate Emmanuel Macron is the new French president. Macron secured almost precisely two-thirds of yesterday’s vote (66.06%) and, in doing so, easily fended off his competition, Marine Le Pen, who secured one-third (33.94%). At 39, Macron will become France’s youngest ever president. He also becomes the first president since 1958 […]
Yesterday on BestExchangeRates.com, we suggested that now might be the time to change your Australian dollars into Canadian dollars, having seen the Aussie’s buying power reach 6-month highs on Tuesday. Those words now seem prophetic, given what we saw yesterday in Australian dollar exchange rates. The Australian dollar tumbled across the board yesterday, including against […]
Described as a “game-changer” by Deutsche Bank, British prime minister Theresa May’s decision to call a snap general election was the big story of the day on Tuesday and has reignited sterling exchange rates. For months Theresa May had played down the possibility of an election earlier than 2020. In the eyes of many of […]
The Thai baht closed higher against the US dollar again on Thursday, ending the day just several pips short of recording its highest close in 21-months. Against the euro, the baht posted its highest close in 23-months. USD/THB and EUR/THB ended the New York session at 34.37 and 36.40 respectively. The baht continues […]
The FX markets welcome China back from a two-day holiday on Wednesday, and markets will be hopeful that the Asian giant’s re-introduction, combined with a host of US data, will spark new life into what has been an uneventful start to the FX week. Again yesterday, like the day before, some of the world’s most […]
In this guide we take a look at TorFX exchange rates, customer service and user ratings, so you can see how they compare to other providers.
A new year brings a wealth of sporting delights around the world, from Euro 2016 to the Invictus Games. Here at World First, we help people transfer money around the world. Some of the people we help in 2016 might be out in the US for the Ryder Cup golf, and enjoy it so much […]
Want to do something different in 2016? We’ve scoured the world for the biggest, messiest, noisiest, most iconic and, frankly, the weirdest events around the world to compile the ultimate list of 101 things to do around the world in 2016. From sport to music, festivals to the weird and wonderful, we’ve got you covered. […]
Azimo have created a way to send money that suits how people live today – online, mobile and social.
Currencies Direct is one of Europe’s leading non-bank providers of currency exchange and international payment services. Since its formation in 1996 Currencies Direct has maintained its focus on being an innovative service provider of foreign exchange and international transfers for consumers and high net worth individuals with an extensive client base of 200,000. When you […]
In this article, we take a look at Natwest Bank and examine how Lloyds exchange rates & international money transfer services compare to other options available to you.