The
UK's manufacturing output grew by 0.6% in October, the fastest pace since March, official figures have shown. The growth was twice as fast as analysts had expected, and the figure comes a day after an industry body said the sector was "powering ahead".
The wider measure of industrial output - which includes mining and oil production - fell 0.2% in October. However, analysts said much of this fall was down to seasonal factors, and the overall picture was encouraging.
The result was a much stronger pound, with exchange rates rising. Those that placed Stop Loss orders yesterday as suggested have now been able to take advantage of the rising market and raise their Stop limits.
Get in touch today to discuss how these types of contract work.
Irish Budget Passes vote
The toughest budget in the Republic of Ireland's history has narrowly passed its first parliamentary vote.The 6
bn euros (£5
bn; $8
bn) of cuts in the 2011 budget are part of a four-year 15
bn-euro austerity plan designed to bring the country's deficit under control.
If the rest of the budget is cleared by parliament, it will trigger the first tranche of bail-out funds from the EU and IMF. It will also avert the likelihood of a snap election, and the news has calmed the markets.
Sterling vs Euro summary
Now there seems to be a way forward for
Ireland, investors are calmer about the Euro. Given that the US may well conduct further Quantitative Easing and face higher inflation, investors are looking for other places to put there funds. Right now Sterling and the Euro are more attractive options.
So both the Euro and Pound have risen in value, but the Euros gains have been limited due to fears other EU countries such as Portugal Spain & Italy may also face debt problems. This meant that the pound rose more than the Euro, and that's why were now close to 10 week highs for Sterling to Euro exchange rates.
As we said in yesterdays post, it's impossible to predict if the rate will keep rising. In these situations we have different contract types to allow you to take advantage of continued gains in the rate while protecting against adverse exchange rate movements.