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The pound enjoys a better day in the markets

Published: 26 Mar at 8 AM Tags: Pound Sterling, Euro Exchange Rate, Dollar Exchange Rate, Euro Crisis, UK, Economy, Inflation,

The pound steadied against the euro yesterday after some decent data out of the UK and on the back of a hint from a senior European Central bank (ECB) policymaker that it might embark on a bout of Quantitative Easing (QE) to boost activity in the euro zone.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported yesterday that the UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) has fallen to a 52-month low in February of 1.7%, down from 1.9% in January.

Meanwhile the data showed that core consumer prices, which exclude energy, food, alcoholic drinks and tobacco accelerated slightly, rising by 0.7% over the month and 1.7% over the year.

Analysts at Barclays commented that “All in all, measured wage growth, a slower pace of labour market normalisation than previously, combined with downside input price pressures, are likely to provide some further comfort to the MPC that inflation pressures are not yet building up in the economy despite the recovery gathering speed. Such macroeconomic conditions should be consistent with an unchanged loose monetary policy stance in the coming quarters. Our baseline scenario remains that the MPC will hike rates in the second quarter of 2015.”

In a separate report, the ONS reported that UK house price growth rates continues to accelerate with a 6.8% price rise in January, its fastest growth rate since August 2010.

The ONS also specifically states that house prices are increasing strongly across “some parts” of the UK with price rises of 13.2% year-on-year in London, 7.1% in the South East and 5.3% in the West Midlands.

In contrast, the British Bankers' Association (BBA) reported that loans for home purchase fell from 49,341 in January to 47,550 in February.

The euro came under pressure after Bundesbank President and ECB Board member Jens Weidmann said that he didn't completely rule out the possibility of the ECB embarking on a new QE program.

Weidmann also suggested that a negative deposit rate might be a way to address the strength in the euro.

The US dollar remains under pressure after the US Department of Commerce reported that new US home sales fell by 3.3% month-on-month in February to reach an annualised rate of 440,000 in March, well short of expectations.

The number of homes available for sale also edged slightly higher to stand at 189,000 by the end of the month or the equivalent of 5.2 month’s worth of supply instead of the 5 month figure seen in January.

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