Concerns over the Euro
EU states were expected to be making repayments to the European Central Bank this week, but fears they would not be able to make the payments have weakened the Euro. Combined with the stronger pound after last weeks budget, it helped push rates through the €1.23 barrier, although the rate has fallen slightly this morning.
Shares have fallen due to the repayments due, and you can read a detailed report about this here on the BBC site.
Will the pound continue to rise?
The reason rates have risen is due to the budget removing investor concerns, coupled with comments from the Bank of England that interest rates may go up. This has increased confidence in the UK.
In the EU, continued concerns about debt repayments have weakened the Euro. We still expect a retraction at some point, as once the EU problems are sorted out, which sooner or later they will be, the Euro will likely regain strength.
The EBC's one year tender expires today, which could provide some further weakness in the Euro. After this it could well be that focus shifts back to the UK, as we've had some poor mortgage figures this week that illustrate it's not smooth sailing for Britain either.
Gross Domestic Product
We were expecting the GDP figures yesterday, but in a strange move the ONS did not release the figures due to a 'potential error'. Gross Domestic Product is a measure of economic recovery, and the figures will now be released on the 12th of July.
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