Good afternoon,
It was another torrid day for the pound, especially for those of you who are looking to purchase dollars in the coming weeks or months.
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After a brief spike this morning following a better than forecast inflation reading the pound lost even more ground against the dominate U.S. dollar.
Earlier today the Office for National Statistics released the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report and there was some good news for the UK economy. Inflation in the UK nudged up from 0.1% to 0.2% and gave the pound a much need boost.
On the back of the CPI report GBP/USD rose around half a cent to reach a high of $1.4333 but to say the gains were short-lived would be an understatement.
So what caused the decline?
Sterling suffered on the back of comments made by Bank of England Governor Mark Carney, following his speech the pound went into free fall and lost ground against most of it's major counterparts.
Within a couple of hours the GBP/USD cross had lost the ground it had made during the early part of today's trading session and bottomed out at 1.4135, a loss of nearly 1.35% and the lowest we have seen the currency pair since March 2009.
GBP/USD graph
Mr Carney has essentially ruled out an immediate rate hike because of the uncertainty and turmoil currently surrounding the global economy and UK growth.
Mr Carney said that with oil prices falling and an "unforgiving" global environment, tightening monetary policy in the UK was not necessary yet. This latest statement is another blow to the UK and pound as it was only during the summer of last year that Mr Carney said a rate rise was on the horizon.
Investors could not take any positives from the speech and quickly started dumping sterling in favour of other currencies, with the U.S. dollar and euro seemingly benefitting.
Do you need to buy dollars in the coming weeks?
If you have a requirement to buy dollars and are concerned about where the currency pair is heading, it vital to know what options you have available. As a specialist currency broker I have a number of tools available to help you make the most from your transfer and protect yourself against further adverse market movements.
For more information use the link below to complete the contact form or call me directly on 0044 (0) 1442 892 065.
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