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Sterling has "torrid" day

Sterling had a torrid day, losing ground against the majority of currencies after Bank of England monetary policy committee meeting minutes hinted at further quantitative easing.

Currency rates -  February 23

EURO/GBP - 1.1817

US$/GBP - 1.5684

CHF/GBP - 1.4242

CAN$/GBP - 1.5661

AUS$/GBP - 1.4704

ZAR/GBP - 12.0652

JPY/GBP - 125.745

HKD/GBP - 12.1685

NZD/GBP - 1.8881

SEK/GBP - 10.441

AED/GBP - 5.7632

US$/EURO - 1.3280

INR/GBP - 77.25

Sterling ended the day at a two month low against the euro and lost over a cent and a half against the dollar. The Bank of England's minutes unexpectedly revealed that two policy makers had voted for an even greater expansion to the asset purchase program calling for an extra £25 billion to be injected into the UK's economy. The news resulted in sterling weakening across the board, as the markets speculated that further quantitative easing could soon be on the way.

In Europe, weak Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data released yesterday surprised the global markets as both the services and manufacturing sectors contracted suggesting that a recession in Europe could soon follow. Whilst the German services and manufacturing sectors are still expanding; unfortunately, the figures fell short of the markets expectations. The most positive news out of Europe yesterday was the unexpected expansion of the French manufacturing sector. Fitch, one of the three major credit rating agencies has downgraded Greece to its lowest rating above a default and the other credit rating agencies are expected to follow suit despite the new €130 billion bailout being agreed.

In the US, figures released yesterday showed that the number of previously owned houses sold in the US increased; but, at a slower rate than expected. The main release today is the unemployment claims figures which are expected to show a decrease in the number of people filing for unemployment insurance in the last week supporting the employment led recovery we have seen in recent weeks.

Elsewhere, manufacturing PMI data out of China showed a contraction for the fourth straight month providing further suggestion that the Chinese economy is slowing down. Call in now for the latest update and the latest news.

Supplied by Nick Ryder of Smart Currency Exchange, the currency partner to Harpers Wine and Spirit who have teamed up with Smart to provide readers with a free bespoke currency service. Go to www.smartcurrencybusiness.com/winespirit for more information or call on 0207 898 0500.