EUR/GBP Rate & Comments for 21st July 2010

EUR/GBP - 1.188

Sterling recovered from Monday’s losses yesterday as concerns over European bank stress tests saw investors taking profit from the stronger euro. Despite starting the day poorly after data on UK public finances came in worse than expected, the pound recovered against the euro and US dollar breaking back above 1.18/£1 and $1.5250/£1. Yesterday morning, data showed that the UK government was borrowing nearly £1.5bn more than expected. This was disappointing for many, who had expected the budget and spending cuts to have had an immediate impact. Falling share prices in the euro zone saw many investors take profit from the euro ahead of stress test results on Friday. This helped the pound recover against the euro. The key data out today is the minutes from the Bank of England’s recent interest rate policy meeting. It is again expected to show that only one member (Andrew Sentance) argued for an interest rate rise – if any more members join him, we could see strength from the pound. Call in now for a live price.

In the Euro zone, the results of this week’s bank stress testing are released on Friday and have been the source of most of the euro’s movement this week. Tumbling stock markets in the region yesterday afternoon dented sentiment and prompted many investors to pull out of euro positions in case Friday’s results were worse than expected. German purchasing manager data showed an improvement – coming in at 0.6% against an expected improvement of 0.2%. There is little data out today, as the pound takes centre stage related to the Bank of England minutes – call in now for a live price.

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