A positive week for sterling has seen it post gains against both the euro and US dollar amid mounting speculation that the Bank of England (BoE) could soon raise interest rates.

After a quiet start to the week, sterling regained some ground against its major trade partners as positive data from both the US and Eurozone was largely ignored. The British currency then made significant gains across the board on Tuesday, as UK economic growth for the second quarter grew to match the pre-recession peak of 0.7%. This positive sentiment continued into Wednesday, with sterling hitting a one-week high against the euro and continuing to rise against the US dollar thanks to a largely indifferent statement from the Federal Reserve. Thursday again saw little fundamental data released, meaning sterling was able to continue strengthening against the euro and US dollar – until the announcement of annualised US economic growth of 2.3% allowed the US dollar to stage a late rally.

Not much is set to be released today – although should inflation data from the Eurozone disappoint, we could see further positive movement for sterling against the single currency.

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It was another disappointing day on Thursday for the euro, wrapping up a disappointing week.

With a large number of data releases coming from the Eurozone, there was an air of optimism and a great opportunity to bounce back from the recent disappointment and strengthen against the other two major currencies. The most prominent of these releases was the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from Germany, which fell short of the forecast of 0.3% at 0.2%. Consumer confidence came out as forecast and as per last month at -7.1.

There is still some hope for the euro today as we have retail sales out from Germany this morning although these are expected to worsen from 0.5% to 0.3%. We also have Eurozone inflation data for July forecast to be steady at 0.2%, plus Eurozone unemployment figures for June which are expected to show a slight improvement to 11.0%

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Yesterday saw the release of accelerated US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data, which showed that the US economy had grown in the second quarter of 2015; this added further support to the possibility of a rate hike later in the coming months. The US Commerce department stated that the GDP had grown at an annual rate of 2.3%, with first quarter growth also revised up to 0.6%. This news saw the US dollar make gains against other major currency pairs such as the euro and sterling.

Today is a relatively quiet day for the dollar in the wake of all the speculation surrounding a potential rate hike that has been taking place throughout the week. In the afternoon, we should see the release of state based Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data in Chicago – but little other data being released it could be a quiet week.

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A volatile week for the Australians which ended strongly to save their blushes. The building approvals data was released yesterday at 2.30, and although it came out over 7% worse than expected there was very little movement in the market. However, as the Europeans woke, we began to see a steady weakening for the next five hours when it hit a resistance level of 2.15, dropping to 2.14 by the end of play.

Although performing slightly better than the lows of last week, the Canadian dollar is still comfortably over the 2.00 mark. Early week releases on Tuesday were indifferent, but the release of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) later today could cause a big market shift

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Even though there was a lack of fundamental UK economic data on Wednesday, sterling moved higher against both the euro and the US dollar, as investors looked to lock in their positions ahead of large proposed corporate acquisitions. Two British companies were the subject of takeover bid talk from overseas firms and, with the bidders needing to purchase potentially billions of sterling to finance these deals, the value of the British currency jumped higher. However, with the US Federal Reserve releasing their latest interest rate decision last night, a recovering dollar towards the end of the day erased many of sterling’s earlier gains. The Federal Reserve’s statement turned out to be more of the same; as they get further evidence of an improving US economy, they will look to increase US interest rates, most likely sometime this year.

We expect attention to be focused on the US today, with the earliest measure of economic growth throughout the previous quarter is set to be released this afternoon.

If you are looking to buy or sell sterling, we suggest contacting your trader now for live rates, news and currency-purchasing strategies.

Wednesday was another disappointing day for the euro as it struggled against both sterling and the US dollar – possibly driven by the lack of news or data from the Eurozone and the eagerly-awaited US interest rate discussions. The currency’s weakness against the dollar was unexpected, especially due to the news that US pending home sales data unexpectedly fell in June, but the sudden strength of the dollar was clearly a response from investors ahead of last night’s Federal Reserve meeting.

This morning we have Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data from Spain – as well as German unemployment data, forecast to remain the same as last month’s figure of 6.4%. At 10am, employment data from the whole of the Eurozone will be released, and this is forecast to remain at 11.1%. CPI data from Germany is the final major data release due today, and is expected to show an improvement on last month’s -0.1% to 0.3%. This could be a big day for the euro – the biggest day in terms of data releases for the last couple of weeks.

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The US Dollar pushed a little higher on Wednesday against many of the major currencies – despite the fact that the US home sales figure fell unexpectedly in June. The main reason for this rise was likely as a result of investors anticipating the Federal Reserve’s rate statement. The minutes released from the statement will highlight the potential of a rate rise in the US – which could strengthen the dollar. Many major analysts suggest that the six-month forecast for the GBP/USD rate is around the 1.50 mark against the pound – which effectively means that sterling will lose its strength gathered in recent months.

Today we see the release of the second quarter growth figures, Goods Trade Balance and US Unemployment Claims data – a drop in the latter is sure to spell positive movements for the US dollar.

If you are looking to buy or sell US dollars, we suggest contacting your trader now for live rates, news and currency purchasing strategies.

Unemployment rates in South Africa were released on Wednesday, beating expectations with a more positive outcome – strengthening the Rand.

In New Zealand, on the other hand, there has been continued volatility – due to the comments made by Reserve Bank of New Zealand member Wheeler, who stated that further dollar weakness was necessary, but the economy was not weak enough to warrant large interest rate cuts.

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