Treasure your Easter Eggs
Treasure your Easter Eggs This Easter, best treasure those Easter eggs. The price of cocoa in the global commodity markets now exceeds the price of copper. Due to a supply crunch, the price of cocoa surged more than $700 per ton on 26 March and has surpassed $10,000 per metric ton for the first time […]
It’s Decision Time
This week is decision time for a host of central banks that together represent 40% of the global economy with interest rate announcements from the central banks of Japan and Australia (19 March); USA (20 March), the UK and Switzerland (21 March). Will the Bank of Japan decide to raise interest rates for the first […]
Budget Day: What To Expect (And How It Might Affect You)
UK Budget The last UK budget before the UK general election will be delivered by Chancellor Jeremy Hunt on Wednesday. One thing seems certain. Hunt will cut taxes. Things to look out for when the Spring Budget is announced include: – Currency Exchange Rates Update Ahead of the budget, the Pound rose to hit its […]
Uncertainty
A very busy period full of mixed economic data releases is fuelling ever higher levels of market uncertainty. With interest rate expectations for the Bank of England (BoE), the US Federal Reserve (Fed) and the European Central Bank (ECB) in the balance. Both the economic and political outlook remain uncertain. Currency Exchange Rates Update The […]
A Soft Landing
A soft landing An economic ‘soft landing’ refers to when an economy slows down from a period of strong growth but avoids falling into a recession. The achievement of an economic ‘soft landing’ has been the ‘holy grail’ sought by the world’s major central banks since they started sharply raising interest rates in 2022 in […]
A Turbulent Start To 2024
2024 has started in turbulent fashion. Everywhere you look, in whatever context, we are living in turbulent times. Turbulent weather, a turbulent economy, a turbulent political outlook and escalating military action now in the Ukraine, Gaza, the Red Sea, Yemen and on the border between Pakistan and Iran. This turbulence should keep the currency markets […]
2024, An Election Year
What a political year 2024 promises to be, a year with not only the UK Election but a year full of key elections throughout the globe. In the UK, the next general election needs to be held before the 28th of January 2025. The next US Presidential elections are due to be held on the […]
Fed Plays Santa Claus
The Fed went and did it. Fed Chair Jerome Powell should have worn full Santa Claus garb for last Wednesday’s announcement that the Fed is pencilling in up to three interest rate cuts in 2024. Which sparked off a stock market bonanza that led various indices, in the US and around the globe hit all-time […]
Best Performing Currency Of The Year…
Currency Exchange Rates Update The Pound was the best performing G10 currency in the first half of 2023. It’s now in a race against the Swiss Franc to finish the year in first place. Last week, the Pound performed well. Hitting a 12-week high against the Euro. A 13-week high against the US Dollar and […]
Can Hunt Deliver A Package For The UK?
With the Tories so far behind in every opinion poll, can Hunt deliver a package for the UK that pleases both the voting public and turn around this government’s political fortunes and the watching financial markets. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt will deliver his much-anticipated Autumn statement on Wednesday, 22 November at around 12.30 pm. The big […]