Forex Weekly Round Up 18/1/16 – 22/1/16

In the UK we had bad news for the Steel industry as Tata Steel announced that they were going to cut over 1000 jobs. This is amid falling steel and commodity prices, however, this will most likely not have an effect on the wider economy, as unemployment is low.

China’s economy grew at its slowest rate in a quarter of a century in 2015, increasing pressure on Beijing to address fears of a prolonged slowdown and ease the jitters affecting global markets. Full-year growth of 6.9% was only just short of government expectations of 7% but by contrast, growth in 2014 stood at 7.3%

US oil prices fell below $27 for the first time since 2003 after the International Energy Agency warned on Tuesday that the oil market could drown in oversupply.

Interest rates in the Eurozone yesterday were left unchanged with the interest rate at 0.05% and the overnight deposit rate again left unchanged at -0.3%. Mario Draghi said rates would stay at present or lower levels for an extended period and there would be no limits to action to reflate the Eurozone.

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Here are the exchange rates taken at 12:41 today. Please note that all conversions are based on interbank rates without any spreads and should be used only as a guide. For live ‘spot’ and ‘forward’ prices please feel free to drop us a line.

GBP/USD 1.4325
GBP/EUR 1.3243
USD/EUR 0.9245