Forex Weekly Round Up 22 June 2015 – 26 June 2015

Britain had its smallest fiscal deficit for any May month since 2007 as tax revenue jumped, handing a boost to Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne as he prepares to unveil the first Budget of the new Conservative-only government. Net borrowing excluding public-sector banks was 10.1 billion pounds compared with 12.4 billion pounds a year earlier.

On Monday, talks between Greece and the Eurogroup appeared to be progressing. From Monday morning’s open, the EUR made gains of almost 1% against the pound, and 0.7% against the dollar before the housing data was released.

On Wednesday evening hopes of a breakthrough between Greece and its creditors were dashed after a meeting between Eurozone finance ministers broke down after less than an hour. The stumbling block over reforms to pension cuts and tax hikes cropped up again when reforms submitted by Greece were sent back with a raft of suggested adjustments.

Thursday’s Eurogroup meetings again brought no fresh news on Greece ahead of a pivotal weekend for the Eurozone; they have just five days left of their current bailout programme with a default beckoning unless this cash for reform deal can be struck.

The only major data release for the US was slightly disappointing, with the weekly unemployment claims increasing by 3,000 applicants but still remaining at positive levels and in line with forecasts. This data did little to move the dollar on Thursday.

Those looking to buy Dollars and sell Euros should consider a forward contract to hedge against adverse movements in the long term. Please contact us for your free, no obligation FX comparison.