If you need a strong Sterling exchange rate against the Euro, you’ll be pleased to hear that the Pound hit a two and a half month high against the European currency before the Easter weekend. This puts Sterling at a rate of 1.213 against the Euro at the start of this week, which for recent times, is a very strong position.

Sterling’s climb on the Euro was mainly due to fears throughout last week about Spanish borrowing costs and the ongoing Euro zone debt crisis. It was also helped along however, by better than expected UK data in the three areas of manufacturing, construction and services. This strengthened hopes that the U.K may avoid recession.

In contrast, Sterling did not perform well against the US Dollar overall last week. Having started the week by reaching a four and a half month high on the US currency, the Pound has fallen back down to a rate of 1.586. This movement reflected the improvement in US unemployment revealed last week, as well as the surprising news revealed in the Federal Reserve minutes that only two out of ten US policy makers were in favour of introducing more monetary stimulus – indicating that the US economy was perceived to be getting stronger.

What is the picture for the Pound going forward? In the short term, this week sees the US monthly budget statement on Wednesday followed by the European Central Bank monthly report, the UK trade balance and the US trade balance. These three events may help bring shifts in exchange rates as they will allow currency investors to easily compare the outlook on these three economies.

The more general picture for the Pound going forward into May and beyond is built on an increasing anticipation about the Bank of England's monetary policy decision in May. The current asset-purchasing programme finishes in May so whether policy makers feel it necessary to introduce more quantitative easing to help support the economy, is likely to be a major influence on the currency markets. A decision to introduce more quantitative easing would be likely to weaken Sterling, whereas a decision to not do so, will help incite more confidence in the economy and make the way clear for Sterling to strengthen.

For further advice on how to save thousands on your property purchase compared to the bank, protect yourself from currency movements or set up regular mortgage transfers, get in touch with the dedicated Property Secrets currency specialist: Nigel Hodges of Currency Solutions on +44 (0) 207 740 0000 or by clicking HERE to leave an enquiry.

It’s excellent news for anyone needing a Sterling to Euro exchange with the Pound hitting a nine month high on the single currency. Last week, we saw a slight rise from Wednesday onwards as interest rate decisions came out from the UK as well as Europe. The later scrutiny of the European summit helped to rocket the Pound up a mid-market rate of 1.19 on the single currency as investors sought an alternative to the risky Euro. If you have an upcoming Sterling to Euro transfer, now is the time to think about whether you want to fix an exchange rate whilst Sterling is experiencing this momentum.

As expected, interest rates were held once more at 0.5 percent by the Bank of England and no action was taken to further quantitative easing. It was a different story in Europe, where the European Central Bank decided to cut rates by 25 basis points to 1 percent. Although this shows an attempt to help the suffering European economy, markets seemed to take the view that this move was disappointing and not at all drastic enough given the overwhelming debt problems - meaning Sterling started to push up on the single currency.

Events at the European summit then hit the headlines as an attempt to secure changes to the EU treaty failed as the 27 member states did not agree on all the new measures – it has been widely publicised that the UK refused to go along with all of the propositions. These moves did not go as far as markets were hoping to help shore up the European economy. To add insult to injury, Standard and Poor’s rating agency then warned of a possible credit rating downgrade to fifteen of the Eurozone countries and most other ratings agencies announced their plans to review all Eurozone nations in early 2012. Needless to say, the Euro lost strength and the Pound once more took advantage.

This could change however and we could see a downturn in Sterling against the Euro if more agreements about the bailout fund and financial markets come to light (particularly if changes are announced that may be seen to be harmful to the UK financial sector’s health), so it’s very wise to stay up to date with the situation as it progresses.

Unfortunately for those wanting to invest in the US property market, Sterling has moved in the opposite direction against the US Dollar at the start of this week. Again the situation is unpredictable - at the same time as there is a chance that future agreements about action to tackle the Eurozone debt crisis could push Sterling down against the Euro, they may well help Sterling to gain on the ‘safe’ US Dollar as risk appetite increases. Feel free to give me a call if you would like me to watch the exchange rates on your behalf through this turbulent time or discuss how you can protect yourself from fluctuations.

There is also some news for anyone who already owns a property in Hungary and has an outstanding mortgage. You may have heard that due to a new piece of legislation passed by the Hungarian Government, it is now possible to pay off the outstanding mortgage amount at a preferential fixed rate of exchange in Hungarian Forint, providing the funds are available to do so - if you haven’t been contacted about this possibility and would like to find out more, please give me a call to discuss.

In summary, the situation at the moment is that the Pound has surged up on the Euro whilst remaining under pressure on the Dollar. The position against the Euro is certainly still precarious - the fact that more quantitative easing is likely to be introduced at some stage means that there is still a strong air of caution. Next week’s Bank of England minutes could prove damaging for the Pound if they reveal that there is growing support amongst the committee members to introduce more quantitative easing soon.

For further advice on how to save thousands on your property purchase compared to the bank, protect yourself from currency movements or set up regular mortgage transfers, get in touch with the dedicated Property Secrets currency specialist: Nigel Hodges of Currency Solutions on +44 (0) 207 740 0000 or by clicking HERE to leave an enquiry.

As anticipated, Sterling’s movement throughout the past week has mainly revolved around what decisions were announced following the European Summits.

European leaders have agreed to strengthen the European rescue fund and have also unveiled a new plan for Greece. The result of this on the global currency markets, has been to restore confidence in the Euro, allowing it to make steep gains on other major currencies. Against Sterling, the Euro grew by 0.72 percent over the course of the week. This means that Sterling starts the week at a rate of 1.139 against the Euro. It is thought that currency investors had been using Sterling as a temporary safe-haven until clarity emerged about decisions made over the European rescue fund so we are now seeing a reversal.

This is not to say that the single currency will necessarily continue to strengthen on the Pound in the long term as the economic situation in Europe is still fragile. The Euro did actually move down from its highest point on Friday when Italy issued expensive ten year debt which caused the surge of optimism to dampen a little. It will be interesting to see over the coming week, how Thursday’s monetary policy decisions in both the UK and Europe affect the rate of exchange as both respective currencies have a potential threat to their strength.

For the Euro, the threat is that a reduction in European interest rates is expected to occur at some point this year which is likely see Euro weakening. Although most economists are not expecting an interest rate reduction to come until at least December, if comments made on Thursday suggest that this is on the cards, the Euro could see some downwards pressure. The threat to Sterling is that the introduction of more Quantitative Easing (filling the struggling economy with more funds to help it rebuild strength) could be supported yet again by the Bank of England policy members. If this occurs, it is likely to add downwards pressure to the Pound. How these two factors will affect the Euro-Sterling tug of war will emerge on Thursday morning.

Sterling’s movement against the Dollar over the past week makes for much more pleasant reading, with the Pound accelerating by 1.12 percent. This means that Sterling starts the week at around a seven week high of 1.612 against the Dollar and has logged one of its best monthly performances against the Dollar since April. This is despite fears for the ongoing weakness in the UK economy, and consumer confidence coming in at its lowest levels since 2009 due to anxieties over a return to recession.

Stay updated with Sterling’s performance particularly on Thursday this week when the monthly monetary policy decisions are announced by the Bank of England and European Central Bank. Feel free to give me a call if you would like me to watch the rates for you or to get a quote on your transfer.

For further advice on how to save thousands on your property purchase compared to the bank, protect yourself from currency movements or set up regular mortgage transfers, get in touch with the dedicated Property Secrets currency specialist: Nigel Hodges of Currency Solutions on +44 (0) 207 740 0000 or by clicking HERE to leave an enquiry.

Last week I reported Sterling’s recent movements - gaining on the Euro whilst dropping against the US Dollar. This movement has extended throughout the past week as the markets saw even more intensity – against the Dollar for example, Sterling tumbled by an astonishing 2.05 percent.

Sterling managed to keep climbing against the Euro to levels of 1.163, the strongest rates seen in over three months. This ascent gathered momentum from Thursday onwards when interest rate decisions were announced by both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. Whilst both decisions were in line with expectations in terms of holding interest rates, Sterling found support from the fact that some economists had expected new quantitative easing measures to be announced by the Bank of England to help shore up the economy - this did not materialise as the economy was evidently believed to be robust enough for now which helped support the Pound.

Trichet’s comments following the interest rate decision in Europe on the same day did also not help the single currency as he identified ‘intensified downside risks’ to the economy with some predicting that European interest rates may have to be brought back down at some stage. The resignation of European Central Bank Executive Board Member Juergen Stark, reportedly over policy, also generated uncertainty and provoked more Sterling weakness.

Anyone interested in the Swiss Franc, will be astonished at some of the movement throughout last week. The currency plunged by 10 percent against the Euro as Swiss officials announced plans to intervene in order to artificially bring down the value of the currency and introduce regulations about how much it can grow against the Euro. This made the Swiss France unattractive to investors.

Sterling steadily fell against the US Dollar throughout the week to levels of 1.588. Confidence grew for the US economy as President Obama announced plans about a programme to stimulate jobs with an injection of 300 billion Dollars. There was also positive news concerning the US trade deficit which fell by 13.1 percent in July which was much better than expected.

The mixed picture of Sterling’s current movement, with the Pound growing against some currencies, whilst falling against others, reveals that the Pound itself has little internal strength at present. If you have Pounds to transfer therefore you should consider the current rates as very precarious. The strengthening position against the Euro is really under-pinned by weakness and problems in Europe. Although no quantitative easing was announced in this month’s UK monetary policy decisions, there is still a strong possibility that this could happen at some stage – and when it does we would expect Sterling to lose ground as the market is flooded with Pounds. It’s best as ever, to have target rates of exchange in mind, and make yourself protected against currency fluctuations. The second half of this week sees a wealth of data being released – from more UK retail data to CPI inflation data in the US. It may be another volatile week.

For further advice on how to save thousands on your property purchase compared to the bank, protect yourself from currency movements or set up regular mortgage transfers, get in touch with the dedicated Property Secrets currency specialist: Nigel Hodges of Currency Solutions on +44 (0) 207 740 0000 or by clicking HERE to leave an enquiry.

Good news for UK based property investors purchasing overseas! The Pound has struck back over the past week, making the most of the damaging data and events that have unfolded in the US and the Euro-zone.

Sterling has finally edged back up to more acceptable levels against the Euro, starting the fresh week at the 1.14s – this could quickly accelerate depending on how much markets react when they re-open on Monday morning to the European stress test results that came out at 5pm on Friday evening. The Euro dropped all day on Friday as markets awaited the results to find out how many European banks had failed the stringent tests. Markets were expecting about fifteen banks to fail – the final result was that eight banks failed including five Spanish, two Greek and one Austrian bank. Therefore, the results were not quite as bad as expected so it will be interesting to see whether this will continue to pull down the Euro this week. The news in truth is not good for Europe when added to last week’s string of credit rating downgrades on various Eurozone nations – both Greece and Ireland suffered downgrades by credit rating agencies. With Italy only half-way through the process of passing its austerity measures, there is still a great degree of uncertainty about sovereign debt which is starting to reflect in the downwards movement of the Euro. Following weeks of Euro gains, Sterling has now had two strong weeks against the single currency – growing by 1.24 percent on the single currency last week, following a 1 percent increase the week before. The Euro also dropped to a severe low against the Swiss Franc to its lowest ever level. Anyone purchasing property in Europe should keep a keen eye on how the situation progresses this week as these are the best Sterling levels we have seen against the Euro in over a month.

The credit rating agencies also had their hand to play in allowing the Pound to appreciate on the Dollar last week by 0.5 percent. Both Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s agencies warned that they may downgrade the US AAA credit rating. This comes as the US is struggling to resolve its issues with its debt ceiling limit – the US needs the debt ceiling raised before the 2nd August to be legally allowed to borrow more money but President Obama and Congress are failing to reach an agreement on how this can be achieved. If measures are not agreed on by politicians before the 2nd August, the US would then be defaulting on its debt, which could bring some more serious damage to the Dollar.

Sterling therefore, stayed out of the limelight for most of last week with minimal economic data coming out of the UK– instead it quietly made gains in the shadow of events in Europe and the US. CPI inflation data on Tuesday was a little less than forecast but still well over the 2 percent target at 4.2 percent. The biggest internal UK event for Sterling this week will be the Bank of England minutes on Wednesday. Unfortunately, if they confirm expectations that an interest rate hike is not looking likely until 2012, or give any indication of more monetary stimulus being required, then the Pound could be more vulnerable from Wednesday onwards. This will of course also depend on how these big issues in the US and Europe continue to progress so feel free to give me a call and stay updated.

For further advice or how to save thousands on your property purchase compared to the bank, protect yourself from currency movements or set up regular mortgage transfers, get in touch with the dedicated Property Secrets currency specialist: Nigel Hodges of Currency Solutions on +44 (0) 207 740 0000 or by clicking HERE to leave an enquiry.

This week we are seeing a continuation of similar currency trends as reported in last week’s blog – once more, Sterling has lost more ground to the Dollar whilst managing to claw back against the Euro. This has been largely caused by intensifying speculation over the extent of debt problems in Greece just as a Portuguese bail out heats up. Markets finally glanced away from their intense focus on interest rates as they digested Trichet’s comments that the next European rate rise will not be immediate. Things also came to a head this Monday as finance ministers met up to talk about sovereign debt issues to the backdrop of the widely reported arrest of the head of the International Monetary Fund, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, which has led to some uncertainty over leadership and whether financial measures such as those affecting Portugal may be delayed. These issues tarnished the positive GDP data from Europe at the end of last week which revealed that GDP had grown faster than expected.

Those needing to purchase a property in Euros should therefore be aware that Sterling has gained 0.39 percent on the single currency over the past week. This was not without the usual twists and turns however with the currency falling down to the 1.11s against the Euro on Sunday before rising again on Monday. I have an increasing amount of clients selling properties in Europe who need to make Euro conversions back in to Sterling. If this is you, then we need to keep an eye out for these sudden movements as the sort of sudden rate seen on Sunday is great for a Euro - Sterling conversion. One way that you can make sure that you do not miss a rate, even if is touched momentarily, is to use an automatic market order – this means that if your target rate of exchange is hit even when our office is closed overnight or at the weekends, the money will be automatically exchanged for you. Feel free to give me a call to discuss whether this could be a good option for you and how it works.

It was another weekly drop for Sterling against the Dollar which benefited even more from Euro weakness than the Pound. This will not come as good news for those purchasing investments in the US. The fall was quite hefty with the Pound falling by 1.04% on the newly robust Dollar. Better than expected farm payroll data from the US in the previous week had helped the currency and the positive inflation report from the Bank of England, cementing opinions that a UK interest rate hike will happen later this year, was not enough to overcome the newly unstoppable Dollar. Although both the UK and US trade balance figures last week showed worse than expected deficits, the UK’s figures were particularly short of forecasts.

The biggest event for Sterling this week will be the Bank of England minutes on Wednesday. Markets will be rushing to find out whether there was any new support for a rate hike revealed in the voting patterns of members – if this were the case, Sterling is likely to receive another upwards push against the Euro.

For further advice or how to save thousands on your property purchase compared to the bank, protect yourself from currency movements or set up regular mortgage transfers, get in touch with the dedicated Property Secrets currency specialist: Nigel Hodges of Currency Solutions on +44 (0) 207 740 0000 or by clicking HERE to leave an enquiry.

If you are buying or selling a property this year, or moving overseas, January is a good time to start talking to a currency broker to discuss when in the year you will be needing the transfer and discussing what sort of rate you want to achieve. The most money is saved on overseas property purchases by those that not only use a broker to avoid the bank’s poor rates of exchange but also use all the tools available to them to ensure that they catch the very best exchange rate in the constantly moving markets.

A forward contract for example allows you to book an exchange rate well in advance of needing the transfer - meaning that if a fantastic rate is achieved months before you need to complete you can still take advantage of this. With various nations across the globe still pulling themselves into recovery at different paces, we are likely to see another volatile year in the currency markets. Throughout 2010 for example, the cost of an overseas property to someone needing a GBP – EURO transfer fluctuated by 11 percent.

In terms of short term movements this week, UK markets have opened with Sterling at the 1.56 levels against the Dollar and the 1.16 levels against the Euro. The Pound has experienced fairly varied and volatile movement against the Euro and Dollar since the weekend so far – as well as gaining on the Australian Dollar.

Economic news is focusing around very strong manufacturing figures coming out of the US as well as the new VAT rise in the UK. The US manufacturing figures have added to growing optimism for a strengthening US economy into the coming year and there has been a certain amount of hype over whether the UK VAT rise will have a negative impact on retail figures and consumer spending which could therefore bring a wave of data to make Sterling more vulnerable.

In terms of what may move the exchange rates this week there is a significant amount of data from Europe on the remaining days of this week such as retail sales and unemployment figures, and significant employment and payroll statistics from the US on Thursday and Friday which is positive as expected, may push the Dollar higher.

For further advice or how to save thousands on your property purchase compared to the bank, protect yourself from currency movements or set up regular mortgage transfers, get in touch with the dedicated Property Secrets currency specialist: Nigel Hodges of Currency Solutions on +44 (0) 20 7740 0000 or by clicking HERE to leave an enquiry.

Like the nations MPs, currency rates for the pound remained under pressure this week, as the expenses scandal continues to haunt UK politicians. You know things are bad when you have to pay for your own gardening and the pound fails to crack 1.08 against the euro. Yet positive signs from the labour market may have revived some faith in the pound, and we may see the UK enter the recovery phase soon.

In the UK last week, the lowest inflation rate in 5 years put sterling under pressure, although Bank of England MPC member Charles Bean revived some confidence by talking about an end to quantitative easing. The pound received a boost late in the week as jobless claims rose by 21,000 which was less than markets were expecting and the unemployment rate held at 7.9%. This is largely due to a lower rate of redundancies and average earnings figures were unchanged from last year.

This news sent the pound to a 3-week high against the US dollar, rallying above the 1.60 resistance level to touch on 1.61. Economists are predicting the UK economy could be close to a turning point, however at present, the underlying trend in sterling remains bearish. This week brings government borrowing figures and the latest MPC minutes.

Exchange rates for the greenback are also on the back foot, after minutes from the MPC meeting showed that US interest rates are likely to remain low for some time. This sent the US dollar to a 14-month low against the euro and 15-month lows against the New Zealand and Canadian currencies. Near-zero interest rates are making the dollar an attractive proposition for carry trades at present. Consumer price index figures and jobless claims are expected to be positive for September, which could induce some volatility later in the week.

The euro has continued to benefit from a rise in risk appetite, reaching a 14-month high against the US dollar to trade just below 1.50 after the Fed indicated interest rates would remain low. German ZEW economic expectations came in slightly weaker than expected, surprising markets after positive manufacturing data earlier in the week. The German economy is expected to grow by 1.2% next year after shrinking 5% in 2009.

Elsewhere, emerging markets stocks have posted their longest rally in four years on the back of rising oil prices and improved figures from China. Japan voted to keep interest rates on hold and the Australian dollar remains buoyant, trading at its highest level in around 25 years against the pound. Australian interest rates are the highest of the G10 nations at present and strong demand from Asian markets is driving the economy forward.

While the picture remains glum in the UK, with high government debt and interest rates expected to stay low throughout 2010, jobless figures this week show that the pace of decline is moderating. At present the weak pound is supporting the UK export sector and the Bank of England may look to reign in quantitative easing levels in the first half of 2010.

Because currency exchange rates change every second, timing your trade to get the best exchange rate can be difficult. Currency Solutions can help you make the most of your currency transfer by providing expert market information and bank-beating exchange rates. Our personal currency brokers watch the markets on your behalf and help you get the best exchange rates for currency transfer. Visit us online at www.currencysolutions.com or phone 0207 740 0000 to see how much you can save.

Have a good week!

Nigel Hodges (Currency Solutions).