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Rare comments from the Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke did little to halt the dollar’s decline on Monday as the dollar index fell to fresh 15 month lows over the trading day. Throwing his weight behind the greenback Mr Bernanke indicated that the Fed “will help ensure that the dollar is strong”, and once again reiterating it would keep interest rates low for an extended period.
October retail sales from the US revealed a nice rebound from last month’s decline, rising 1.4% for the month. Retail sales will continue to be an important indicator of how effective the Obama stimulus measures have worked, and unsurprisingly global equity markets reacted positively, finding further legs to build on their recent gains.
Sterling awoke from its slumber in the afternoon session, jumping to two month highs against the euro, and climbing into the 1.68’s against the dollar as risky assets and commodities enjoyed another strong day. Gold breached yet another record high, as investors flocked to the safety of bullion, and out of the stretched dollar.
Inflation figures today from the UK will be of note, with CPI expected to arrive just in the positive territory (0.1%). The US also provides inflation figures with PPI due for release in the afternoon, as well as October’s industrial production figures.
Latest Exchange Rates At Time Of Writing
| Indicative Rates | Sell | Buy |
| GBP/EUR | 1.1253 | 1.1282 |
| GBP/USD | 1.6844 | 1.6869 |
| EUR/USD | 1.4947 | 1.4968 |
| GBP/JPY | 149.64 | 150.16 |
| GBP/AUD | 1.8053 | 1.8099 |
| GBP/NZD | 2.2536 | 2.2594 |
| GBP/CAD | 1.7639 | 1.7694 |
| NZD/USD | 0.7458 | 0.7484 |
| GBP/ZAR | 12.42 | 12.46 |
| USD/ZAR | 7.36 | 7.38 |
| GBP/PLN | 4.5905 | 4.6335 |
| EUR/JPY | 132.72 | 133.17 |
