Euro (€) Currency Thread

ailuro2

ifb, get a post office credit card to use in bigger shops.

for pocket money, ie for market stalls etc you do need some currency, it might be just as cheap withdrawing cash from a hole in the wall and paying the charges as you'll get business rate for it (which is up to 5% better than currency exchange rates) however if you use the guide on this site to check who is offering the best exchange rate you might get somewhere close to that to have the Euros in your hand before you travel.


http://travelmoney.moneysavingexpert.com/holiday-money/#results


https://www.xe.com will tell you on the front page what the current visa exchange rate is.

emweaver

has anyone used or heard of http://www.currencytoday.co.uk/ ?

sabretoothtigger

The rate right now has been hovering around the same level for a while. Spookingly this is exactly 50% between the doomsdays of Jan 2009 and the highs of 2007

mobby-2554

Is there any reason this thread is not being updated?
I've always looked on here when I'm going away.

JasonLVC

EURO/POUND :


Having slipped back against the euro in early trading, the pound recovered its losses to sit virtually unchanged on the day, holding above 1.21.

• Sterling came under pressure after figures showed that the UK's goods trade deficit widened to a record high in July.
• Britain's total trade deficit, which includes services, also increased sharply to its highest level in nearly five years, denting hopes that the country's export sector would be able to drive growth.
• In other news, the Bank of England's decision to hold interest rates at record low levels had limited impact on the market, with most investors expecting the central bank to hold off from raising rates from 0.5% until at least the second quarter of 2011.
• The quantitative easing budget was also left on hold at £200bn but the release of the MPC minutes in a fortnight's time may shed further light on this question.
• Amid a slowing recovery and with fiscal austerity measures set to add a further drag on growth, the minutes may signal, which may signal increased discussion of further quantitative easing measures to stimulate the economy.
• In trading this morning sterling has dropped back slightly but is continuing to hover around 1.21.
• There is little market moving data due for release today and we don't expect to see any wild price movements between this pair heading into the weekend

STERLING/US DOLLAR:


The pound tracked the single currency lower against the US dollar yesterday heading back toward $1.54 where the price continues to hold this morning.

• Sterling slipped against the dollar, tracking euro losses versus the US currency earlier in the day while a weak reading of the UK trade sector also served to keep investors negative on the pound.
• Sterling touched its intra-day low after figures showed the UK's goods trade deficit unexpectedly expanded to£ 8.7bn in July, its widest level on record, from £7.5 billion in June.
• However, in the afternoon session as the US markets came online sterling did begin to recover following some positive US jobless figures and a better-than-expected trade balance, which allowed a brief respite in the double-dip, doom-and-gloom rhetoric that the markets have been spouting recently.
• Sterling has opened this morning as it left off yesterday, on the rise. It's only managed minor gains but the price has headed comfortably through $154.
• As ever though, these gains are unlikely to represent a shift in trend or sentiment and sterling is likely to drop back on the slightest hint of risk aversion.

Source:CaxtonFx

JasonLVC

It's all going terribly wrong at the moment, Pound has dropped quite a bit in the last 48 hours it is currently 1.17 (1.16 at start of trading today, 1.20 last week):-

STERLING/EURO:



Sterling continued its slide lower yesterday, reaching a four-month low against the euro after BoE minutes showed policymakers were willing to consider further monetary easing.

• The minutes signaled that policymakers are moving closer to adding more stimulus to the economy, joining the Fed in contemplating further bond purchases to revive a flagging recovery.
• Although the report highlighted that opinions were split, on balance the report struck a rather dovish tone. A number of members indicated that "the headwinds to recovery....were somewhat stronger than previously thought, and the downside risks to activity had increased."
• In terms of the vote, Andrew Sentance remained the sole dissenting voice among the ranks, voting for the fourth consecutive month to raise rates by 25 basis points.
• In trading this morning, sterling seems to have capped its slide but with the prospect of further stimulus very much on the table sterling may struggle to clamber back out of this rut without the help of eurozone troubles.
• The single currency has become the primary alternative to investors selling the pound and the US dollar, and until that trend changes the price will remain subdued.

Voyager2002

This thread deserves more attention than it is getting.

And can anyone explain why the Euro is so strong against the pound? Last time I looked, the pound would buy a mere Euro 1.14: despite the fact that the Financial Times has headlines about the crisis in the Euro zone, and the latest news from Ireland would make me act quickly to sell any Euro that I were holding.

sabretoothtigger

Euro is less worse then the USA. It also pays 1% interest and neither we or usa do as much. The federal reserve is apparently due again to start printing off free money soon so alot of currency strength is going to euro instead because the ECB is a better store of value.
The euro includes germanys industrial success as well as ireland who number only 4million which is less then just 1 failing usa state

Japan has dropped rates to zero so euro also has gained some ground back from the yen also

JasonLVC

• The pound opened on the back foot yesterday as a weak UK consumer confidence survey and a mixed employment report reinforced concerns about the UK's recovery.
• The Nationwide confidence index fell last month to its lowest level in a year, reversing gains seen in August. Meanwhile, data from the labour market showed a rise in the number of Britons claiming jobless benefits, although the wider measure of the rate of unemployment did dip from 7.8 to 7.7%.
• The figures were mixed overall but scratch under the surface and there are signs that the labour market is coming under increasing pressure from slowing growth and companies' mounting concerns over the economic outlook.
• In addition, the euro was able to shrug off comments from an ECB member that directly contrasted with the hawkish remarks of Axel Weber, stating that the ECB bond buying programme should not be discarded too soon as it would be useful as a “safety-belt.”
• In trading this morning the price remains steady in that band between 1.13 and 1.14, and without any major European figures or announcements due today, broad euro strength has the price risks pinned to the downside.

Source - CaxtonFx

My comment > Worth noting that the markets are starting to twitch over the slow down that seems to be happening to the UK economy......the coalition's expected spending review is sending some jitters into the markets......so we'll have to wait and see what the spending review actually comes up to see whether to panic or not.

JasonLVC

Voyager2002 wrote: »

This thread deserves more attention than it is getting.

And can anyone explain why the Euro is so strong against the pound? Last time I looked, the pound would buy a mere Euro 1.14: despite the fact that the Financial Times has headlines about the crisis in the Euro zone, and the latest news from Ireland would make me act quickly to sell any Euro that I were holding.

I suspect it may be due in part to strong economic data elsewhere in Europe and the ECB has a tendancy to talk up their economy (even if it is half lies), whereas the BoE are constantltytalking down the economy, talking about QE or raising interest rates and not helped by our government keep talking about slashing and burning everything all the time. This spending review needs to be dealt with quickly, get all the bad news out asap and the markets can then react....they don't like uncertainty and that's what we've got now.