Latest news with #NickRees
Zawya
13 hours ago
- Business
- Zawya
Sterling steady on the dollar as Middle East conflict endures, BoE meeting in sight
Sterling was muted against the dollar on Monday ahead of a Bank of England meeting this week, with markets adopting a wait-and-see approach to rising geopolitical uncertainty, as a conflict between Israel and Iran showed no sign of abating. Sterling was marginally up against the dollar at $1.359, after falling as much as 0.7% to a low of $1.3518 on Friday, when investors scurried into the relative safety of the greenback after Israel launched a flurry of strikes on Iran. "The pound is trading largely in line with its relative sensitivity to risk, so a little bit more risk sensitive than the euro," noted Nick Rees, head of macro research at Monex Europe. The euro rose 0.18% against the pound to 85.26 pence. The dollar was steady on Monday, while world shares nudged up and oil prices held on to most of last week's increase amid rising tensions in the Middle East at the start of a week packed with central bank meetings. Rallying oil prices pose a risk to the inflation outlook, as central banks around the world grapple with the impact on prices from Trump's trade tariffs and the effect on economic growth. "We do not want another big stagflationary shock and that's exactly what it looks like this could turn into. Markets should be pricing that in," Rees said, adding currency markets were at least factoring in the risk to a certain extent. Investors will look for progress in any bilateral meetings with the U.S. on the sidelines of a Group of Seven leaders meeting in Canada this week. Meanwhile, the BoE is among the central banks that will meet this week to decide on policy rates. Money markets expect the Bank to keep interest rates at 4.25% on Thursday and roughly price in another two quarter-point rate cuts by December, with the next one most likely in September. The pound has faced a series of weak UK data on manufacturing activity, employment and economic growth last week. A spending review by finance minister Rachel Reeves last Wednesday did little to improve the outlook for growth, according to analysts, but raised the chances of possible tax hikes later this year. Regardless, sterling has gained over 8% against the dollar so far in 2025. (Reporting by Linda Pasquini in Gdansk; Editing by Amanda Cooper and Toby Chopra)
Reuters
14 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
Sterling steady on the dollar as Middle East conflict endures, BoE meeting in sight
June 16 (Reuters) - Sterling was muted against the dollar on Monday ahead of a Bank of England meeting this week, with markets adopting a wait-and-see approach to rising geopolitical uncertainty, as a conflict between Israel and Iran showed no sign of abating. Sterling was marginally up against the dollar at $1.359, after falling as much as 0.7% to a low of $1.3518 on Friday, when investors scurried into the relative safety of the greenback after Israel launched a flurry of strikes on Iran. "The pound is trading largely in line with its relative sensitivity to risk, so a little bit more risk sensitive than the euro," noted Nick Rees, head of macro research at Monex Europe. The euro rose 0.18% against the pound to 85.26 pence. The dollar was steady on Monday, while world shares nudged up and oil prices held on to most of last week's increase amid rising tensions in the Middle East at the start of a week packed with central bank meetings. Rallying oil prices pose a risk to the inflation outlook, as central banks around the world grapple with the impact on prices from Trump's trade tariffs and the effect on economic growth. "We do not want another big stagflationary shock and that's exactly what it looks like this could turn into. Markets should be pricing that in," Rees said, adding currency markets were at least factoring in the risk to a certain extent. Investors will look for progress in any bilateral meetings with the U.S. on the sidelines of a Group of Seven leaders meeting in Canada this week. Meanwhile, the BoE is among the central banks that will meet this week to decide on policy rates. Money markets expect the Bank to keep interest rates at 4.25% on Thursday and roughly price in another two quarter-point rate cuts by December, with the next one most likely in September . The pound has faced a series of weak UK data on manufacturing activity, employment and economic growth last week. A spending review by finance minister Rachel Reeves last Wednesday did little to improve the outlook for growth, according to analysts, but raised the chances of possible tax hikes later this year. Regardless, sterling has gained over 8% against the dollar so far in 2025.
Reuters
12-05-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Canadian dollar heads for weekly decline as jobless rate climbs
TORONTO, May 9 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar weakened to a three-week low against its U.S. counterpart on Friday as signs that trade tensions are hurting employment bolstered expectations for additional interest rate cuts from the Bank of Canada. The loonie was trading 0.1% lower at 1.3935 per U.S. dollar, or 71.74 U.S. cents, after touching its weakest intraday level since April 16 at 1.3944. For the week, the loonie was down 0.8%, with the currency pulling back from a near seven-month high on Tuesday at 1.3748. Canada's unemployment rate rose to 6.9% in April, the highest level since November and above the 6.8% rate economists had expected, as the economy added just 7,400 jobs. "Tariff uncertainty is now weighing on employment, and we see little chance these worries will fade in the near future," said Nick Rees, senior FX market analyst at Monex Europe Ltd. "We see little reason that this jobs data should stand in the way of further BoC policy easing in June, and that leaves loonie risks skewed to the downside as traders price this in." Investors see a roughly 60% chance that the BoC resumes cutting interest rates at its next policy decision on June 4, up from 46% before the employment report, overnight index swaps market data showed. The central bank left its benchmark rate on hold at 2.75% last month, its first pause since the easing campaign began in June. The U.S. dollar (.DXY), opens new tab was set for a weekly gain against a basket of major currencies on optimism about upcoming U.S.-China talks. Signs that trade tensions could be easing between China and the United States helped support the price of oil, one of Canada's major exports. U.S. crude futures were trading 1.5% higher at $60.82 a barrel. Canadian bond yields eased across the curve, with the 10-year down 4.7 basis points at 3.157%.
Zawya
11-03-2025
- Business
- Zawya
Sterling regains footing against weak dollar, tumbles versus euro
Sterling rose against the dollar on Tuesday as fears of a U.S. recession drove traders away from the greenback, though the British currency was set for its seventh straight day of losses against the resurgent euro. The pound rose 0.4% to $1.2931, building on its 2.7% gain last week, as worries about a tariff-led slowdown in U.S. economic growth drive traders away from the greenback. Analysts said the move could continue in the coming days, though was unlikely to be sustained medium term. Nick Rees, head of macro research at Monex Europe, said while U.S. recession fears were "overdone", currency markets "could be wrong for an extended period". He expects the pound to fall against the dollar, but potentially not for a couple of weeks. From the UK side, the week's focus will be on Britain's monthly gross domestic product due on Friday but until then analysts said the currency would largely be influenced by moves elsewhere. The pound lost ground on the euro, which rose as high as 84.445 pence, its highest since late January, before paring some of its gains. It was last up 0.1% at 84.235 pence. Optimism that a deal could be reached on a German defence spending package has lifted the common European currency as eurozone growth prospects have brightened. The package, and reform of Germany's "debt brake" have also caused a sharp repricing of German government bonds, giving support to the euro. The spread between German and UK 10-year yields was 5 basis points narrower on Tuesday, and the two-year yield spread was 2 bps tighter. Both are around their narrowest since late 2024.
Reuters
11-03-2025
- Business
- Reuters
Sterling regains footing against weak dollar, tumbles versus euro
March 11 (Reuters) - Sterling rose against the dollar on Tuesday as fears of a U.S. recession drove traders away from the greenback, though the British currency was set for its seventh straight day of losses against the resurgent euro. The pound rose 0.4% to $1.2931, building on its 2.7% gain last week, as worries about a tariff-led slowdown in U.S. economic growth drive traders away from the greenback. Analysts said the move could continue in the coming days, though was unlikely to be sustained medium term. Nick Rees, head of macro research at Monex Europe, said while U.S. recession fears were "overdone", currency markets "could be wrong for an extended period". He expects the pound to fall against the dollar, but potentially not for a couple of weeks. From the UK side, the week's focus will be on Britain's monthly gross domestic product due on Friday but until then analysts said the currency would largely be influenced by moves elsewhere. The pound lost ground on the euro, which rose as high as 84.445 pence, its highest since late January, before paring some of its gains. It was last up 0.1% at 84.235 pence. Optimism that a deal could be reached on a German defence spending package has lifted the common European currency as eurozone growth prospects have brightened. The package, and reform of Germany's "debt brake" have also caused a sharp repricing of German government bonds, giving support to the euro. The spread between German and UK 10-year yields was 5 basis points narrower on Tuesday, and the two-year yield spread was 2 bps tighter. Both are around their narrowest since late 2024.
