Archive for the ‘GBP’ Category

An optimistic quarterly inflation report from the Bank of England on Wednesday saw Sterling surge on the Forex markets, with well-placed online traders taking good advantage of the announcement.

The Bank’s Governor, Mark Carney, commented that economic recovery was taking hold in the UK and the Bank’s projections for growth were moving forward, with next year’s annual growth expected to reach 2.8%, up 0.3% from the projection made in August.
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This weekend, Labour Leader Ed Milliband has promised to close the gap between employee wages and the cost of living, with tax breaks for employers that are prepared to pay a living wage.

However, with no hard and fast policy in place to actively coerce employers to pay more, such as an increase in the minimum wage, it remains to be seen whether this will have a positive impact on the economy.
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The Chancellor’s recent encouraging news on growth in the British economy has strengthened sterling against most other currencies. Online forex traders should be careful, however, as the effect is unlikely to be permanent.

The UK growth figure for the quarter June – September 2013 was 0.8 per cent, which was an increase on the two previous quarters, and also higher than the expectations of the International Monetary Fund, whose chief economist had described George Osborne’s fiscal policies as ‘playing with fire’. It was better also than the predictions of the Chancellor’s own fiscal watch dog, the Office for Budget Responsibility, which in March predicted an annual growth rate of 0.6 per cent.
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The Confederation of British Industry’s most recent quarterly survey, covering the three months to the start of September, puts British business confidence at its highest for nearly seventeen years.

The consequences for forex trading are likely to be an increase in confidence in the pound and a strengthening of its value against the US dollar, which has already been weakened by the US government shutdown.
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Online forex trading investors will no doubt have been relieved by the stock market’s positive start to 2013 but now fears of a triple-dip recession in the UK could risk reversing the gains made and force the market back into a nose dive.

On the back of recent uncertainty in the Eurozone caused by the Cyprus bailout and growing fears of economic catastrophe in Slovenia, the UK’s continual teetering on the brink of recession is causing concern among traders and recent gains on the stock market have already begun to fall away.
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The pound seems to be on a free-fall, having fallen by more than 7 per cent against the dollar, in the last two months.

Yesterday, the pound fell by about two cents in forex trading, or 100 points, to touch $1.4993, before rebounding to $1.5019, in later trade.

This is the first instance, in two and a half years, of the sterling trading below the symbolic $1.50 mark.
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As Greece slips into an ever deepening recession with unrest and protests reported across the country, the fate of the Europ hangs by a thread. With increasing risk of a Greek default, the Euro may slip against the dollar from its current high of 1.298/dollar.

Euro against dollar

After a brief rally that surged the Euro to 1.298 against the dollar, the looming threat of an European recession spurred by failing austerity measures in Greece and Spain has once again triggered a downward spiral of the Euro against the dollar. The coming few weeks will be crucial for forex traders are (more…)

Euro rises to a 4-month high against the Dollar as the German Constitutional Court Approves of a multi-billion Euro Rescue Plan

The German constitutional court on 12 September, 2012 approved of the German government’s participation in the Euro zone’s latest rescue plan, pushing the Euro to a 4-month high against the dollar and other currencies. The Court allowed the government to contribute as much as €190 billion Euro to the rescue plan without having to take permission from the German parliament. These terms buoyed the sentiments in the forex market, which was expecting tougher terms from the Court.

German court verdict supporting EURO raise

Within hours of the Courts verdict, the Euro rose 0.35% against the US dollar to close at 1.2899. It continued to rise on 13th September, when it closed at 1.2985. (more…)

Hosting the 2012 Olympic Games cost the British government an estimated £9.3 billion. While this may seem like an exorbitant amount, history has shown that hosting the Olympics can not only be a matter of prestige for a city, but also stimulate local economies and boost tourism, thus providing long term economic benefits.

British Olympic medal’s impact on cash reserves

The 2012 London Olympics have provided much needed cash reserves to the beleaguered British economy, which announced earlier in July that GDP output fell by 0.7 percent in the second quarter of the year. The games have been very successful, thanks in part to the British team’s exceptional performance.
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Dominating Forex trading news is the Euro’s continued decline versus the dollar. The new low of 1.229 has hit many traders and this trend is predicted to continue for some time. The faltering of the Euro is seen to have been partially caused by fresh Greek unemployment figures, this data now showing that the number of jobless youths in Greece has hit a record high.
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Standard and Poor’s Confirms that UK will keep its AAA Rating in a Move which Leaves Forex Traders Divided

There has been much talk of a double dip recession following the disappointing UK growth figures released earlier this week and concerns had been growing that the UK would imminently lose its AAA rating as it became only the second industrialised nation to fall back into recession.
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The Royal Mint highlights the celebration of London Olympics 2012 by releasing an edition of the 50 pence coin, with the football’s offside rule explained on the back side.

The designer Neil Wolfson says “If I had 50p for every time someone asked what the offside rule was, then I would be very rich.”

In United Kingdom there were an estimated 28 million coins circulating as of 30 March 2010.

The fifty pence (50p) coin was first introduced in year 1969, replacing the old ten shilling note. However, in the 1990s the size of the 5p, 10p and 50p coins were reduced. Therefore the oldest 50p coins in circulation are from 1997.

The Royal Mint is the body with permission to mint (manufacture) coins in the United Kingdom. Since 2009 the Royal Mint operates as a company through Royal Mint Ltd, with an exclusive contract with HM Treasury to supply all coinage for the UK. The Royal Mint Limited is 100% owned by HM Treasury (more known as just ‘The Treasury’).