Yesterday was dominated by US jobs data with the morning's trading taking on a stagnant air as traders waited for the release. The afternoon was bearish as it became clear that 467,000 jobs were lost in the month of June in the US, a loss similar to the entire population of Liverpool. Risk appetite pulled back and aversion dominated with equity markets falling lower.
The ECB held rates at 1% as we expected and the 'post-match' press conference was a damp squib. The euro fell off against both sterling and the US dollar as European unemployment data disappointed. Joblessness is now sitting at 9.5%; a ten year high and is likely to continue rising.
Construction PMI, unlike Manufacturing PMI yesterday, moved lower posting a figure of 44.5 against a consensus of 45.9. This moved sterling lower as a lot of analysts, myself included, believe that a return of housing market strength is needed for a sterling recovery.
Latest Exchange Rates At Time Of Writing
| Indicative Rates | Sell | Buy |
| GBP/EUR | 1.1668 | 1.1697 |
| GBP/USD | 1.6345 | 1.6371 |
| EUR/USD | 1.3993 | 1.4014 |
| GBP/JPY | 156.82 | 157.3 |
| GBP/AUD | 2.0469 | 2.0519 |
| GBP/NZD | 2.5823 | 2.5891 |
| GBP/CAD | 1.8942 | 1.9002 |
| NZD/USD | 0.6313 | 0.6337 |
| GBP/ZAR | 12.88 | 12.93 |
| USD/ZAR | 7.86 | 7.92 |
| GBP/PLN | 5.08 | 5.1077 |
| EUR/JPY | 134.35 | 134.6 |
