Pound Rand forecast - GBP ZAR

The Bank of England Governor Mervyn King called an instant halt to the Pound’s recent bull-run in the currency markets during yesterday’s session, when he announced that the Bank was slashing its UK growth forecast for 2012 by a third, from the previous 1.2% to a paltry 0.8%. King blamed the announcement on the threat to the British...

The ongoing soap opera which is the Greek debt crisis took several twists and turns during yesterday’s session in the markets. The most significant development on the day came in the form of an announcement from the leaders of the ‘socialist light’ Democratic Left party which revealed that they would not enter into any coalition...

Friday’s Asian session saw the release of data which provided further evidence that the Chinese economy is expanding at a slower pace. The annualised Industrial Production figure registered at 9.3%, versus an anticipated 12.2%. This showing was the lowest level that Chinese industrial output had expended by for some three years. Chinese...

The EURO remains out of favour in the currency markets, as investors factor-in the real and present possibility that Greece will go down the anti-bailout route, precipitating a chaotic default. German Industrial Production data, released earlier, thrashed expectations, confirming the strength of the eurozone’s major player. The GBP EUR...

Better than anticipated US retail sales numbers caught the attention during yesterday’s session in the currency markets. The American shop sales figures far outstripped expectations, showing a monthly increase of 0.8% in March, versus analysts’ expectations of a 0.3% print. A break-down of the data revealed that an uptick in the sales of...

The EURO has once again hogged the headlines for all the wrong reasons during today’s session in the currency markets. The European Central Bank made a statement earlier today which confirmed that for the fifth week in succession, it did not move into Europe’s bond markets to prop up the faltering gilts of several debt-burdoned eurozone...

Global share markets continued their recovery of last Friday during today’s session and the US DOLLAR lost ground against the other majors as a consequence, taking the GBP USD exchange rate to its current level of 1.5937. This afternoon’s stronger than expected annualised US Pending Home Sales data further improved investor sentiment,...

The Pound Euro exchange rate (GBP EUR) is 1.1794. There was good news for investors holding euro-denominated assets late yesterday afternoon, when German MPs gave their backing to Greece’s proposed €130bn bail-out package, which was agreed last week. There was some dissent in the ranks and the vote was by no means unanimous –...

POUND STERLING UK Unemployment figures, released this morning, showed that the British jobless rate rose by 48,000 in the last quarter of 2011. There was better news for Sterling later this morning, when the Bank of England’s Quarterly Inflation Report suggested that the UK’s economy will waver this year, but ultimately avoid a double...

The Pound Euro exchange rate GBP EUR is trading at 1.19103, up 0.26%. The Pound Dollar exchange rate GBP USD is trading at 1.58121, down 046%. The Pound Australian Dollar exchange rate GBP AUD is trading at 1.47474, up 0.42%. The Pound New Zealand Dollar currency rate GBP NZD is trading at 1.89789, up 0.22%. The Sterling Swiss Franc rate GBP...