Latest Articles by Frank Davies

Although the UK unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to a fresh forty-two year low on Tuesday this failed to give the Pound US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate a boost. While the UK labour market continued to tighten this did not result in any particular uptick in average weekly earnings, which showed steady growth of 2.8% in the three months...

Comments from Chinese president Xi Jinping encouraged a resurgence in market risk appetite, to the detriment of the Pound Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate. Demand for the risk-sensitive Australian Dollar picked up in response to President Xi’s more measured tone on the subject of trade, which suggests a greater chance of...

Despite persistent concerns about the possibility of a ‘trade war’ breaking out between the US and China, other aspects have supported risky currencies like the New Zealand Dollar instead and this has kept the British Pound to New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate from advancing. Due to risk-sentiment and weak UK data last week,...

Hopes that the UK government was closer to finding a solution to the persistent issue of the Irish border post-Brexit was not enough to help the British Pound to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate to sustain gains on Wednesday. The pair instead fluctuated ahead of Thursday’s key datasets. Due to end of quarter fixings and mixed market...

On Thursday, the Pound to US Dollar exchange rate fell from an opening level of 1.4156 in the morning to close down lower around 1.4111 by the evening. The day’s main news was that the Bank of England (BoE) had left UK interest rates unchanged at 0.5%, but that there could be a rate hike as early as May 2018. Providing a detailed...

Despite strong UK data and a hawkish tone from the Bank of England (BoE) during its policy decision on Thursday, the British Pound to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate fell back from its best levels towards the end of the day as the US Dollar strengthened. The pair has still seen strong gains throughout the week so far despite the Thursday...

Cautious optimism about next week’s EU summit and the broad weakness of the US Dollar helped the British Pound to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate to advance on Friday. Due largely to USD weakness, GBP/USD has climbed over a cent from the week’s opening levels of 1.3849. The pair touched on a weekly high of 1.3993 on Wednesday but...

In spite of a general increase in market risk aversion the Pound to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate failed to find any fresh support on Wednesday morning. The resignation of key White House economic adviser Gary Cohn prompted fresh investor jitters, with the risk of an imminent global trade war seeming to have strengthened...

The weekend’s Eurozone political news was mixed and this left the Euro to British Pound (EUR/GBP) exchange rate lower on Monday. The Pound’s strength was bolstered slightly by news that Britain’s services sector had beaten expectations in February but its gains were limited by Brexit concerns. Due to Brexit uncertainties causing...

As January’s UK retail sales data fell short of forecast the mood of the Pound Euro (GBP EUR) exchange rate remained rather bearish. Although sales still saw a rebound on the month, reversing some of December’s sharp -1.6% contraction, this was not enough to encourage investors. With consumer spending failing to lift as markets had...