Forex Weekly Round Up 18/7/16 – 22/7/16

The Pound fell against a host of its major counterparts after the International Monetary Fund slashed its forecast for UK growth next year after warning that the decision to leave the EU has damaged the British economy’s short-term prospects and “thrown a spanner in the works” of the global recovery.

The dollar rose on Wednesday, hitting its highest level in four months against a basket of currencies, as expectations rose that the Federal Reserve would tighten monetary policy. The dollar has benefited recently from strong readings on the US labour market and inflation, which has boosted bets the Fed, will raise US interest rates before the end of the year.

On Thursday the European Central Bank kept rates unchanged across the Eurozone at their first meeting since the Brexit vote. Economists were expecting no change to current rates, with the headline deposit rate remaining at -0.4% and a 0.25% rate on sums borrowed from the ECB by banks.

Here are the exchange rates taken at 13:21 on 22nd July. 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’ rates please contact us.

GBP/USD 1.3093
GBP/EUR 1.1890
GBP/AED 4.8091
GBP/CNY 8.7364