ECB Buying Euros and Bonds

Good morning,

Yesterday saw the Euro rate weaken off overnight on concerns that the anti-austerity opposition party Syriza will win Greek elections next month endangering the country’s bailout agreement with the EU. At close of play yesterday pound euro was trading at 1.2740 and pushed up to 1.2790 at its high before dropping off a little this morning.
The Euro fell versus all major currencies notably against the US Dollar following speculation the ECB (European Central Bank) will implement more currency-depreciating stimulus next year to revive growth!

In the UK this morning the Nationwide house price Index has revealed that prices moved 0.2% for the month of December matching economist predictions. It has also shown that house prices are up 7.2% year on year again inline with forecasts. This should provide a little support for the Pound on what is set to be another quiet day in terms of data.

Robert Gardner chief economist at Nationwide quoted, “While the pace of house-price growth has moderated in recent months, activity has slowed more sharply”. “If the economic backdrop continues to improve as we and most forecasters expect, activity in the housing market is likely to regain momentum in the months ahead”.

In the US this afternoon we have the Consumer Confidence data for December. This is an assessment of consumer sentiment regarding business conditions, employment and personal income. It tends to have some impact on market movement but not as highly regarded as other data. Tomorrow will see some key data with initial jobless claims, Chicago Purchasing Managers Index and Pending home sales.

Best Foreign Exchange Rates

GBPEUR 1.2765
GBPUSD 1.5533
EURUSD 1.2166
GBPSEK 12.168
GBPAED 5.7054
GBPAUD 1.9003
EURGBP 0.7831
GBPJPY 185.64
GBPTHB 51.097