Weekly € rates and comments – week commencing 24th November 2008

Sterling edged up through last week away from the record lows of the previous. The shock of reaching such a low level against the euro which many had considered as inconceivable has forced a re-think of how much further down sterling could fall with further interest rate cuts becoming more of a certainty as inflation continues to fall. However, the consequence of such cut may be further devaluation of sterling on the markets and is something the Bank of England would want to avoid but may have to live with short-term.

 

The euro, currently at 1.182/£1 also maintained its value in the markets and although marginally lower against sterling it remained relatively unchanged against the US$ from the previous week. The extent of the recession within the Eurozone was demonstrated by a survey showing that business activity has slowed to its lowest level in over ten years. This has, much like the BoE, left the onus on the ECB to lower the interest rates in hope of stimulating business growth.