020 7898 0500Elsewhere this week we saw the situation in the US continue to be a driving factor in the global marketplace. Earlier in the week there was a continuation of the patterns we saw the week before, with growing worries over the situation in Washington increasing demand for safe-haven assets, as news came out of the US that congress are no closer to reaching an agreement on the budget. Because of this we saw the Swiss franc touch 19 month highs against the US dollar as well as further strength from the Japanese yen. Midweek, however, we saw a swing in the markets triggered by developments in the US. The traditionally higher risk Australian and New Zealand dollars performed well on Tuesday and Wednesday, but the Australian currency retreated slightly yesterday following worse-than-forecast employment figures. At the same time the newfound appetite for risk in the marketplace meant that the Japanese yen lost some of the ground it had made over the previous week. Throughout the week we saw the Canadian dollar suffer, as the uncertainty surround the US (Canada’s biggest trading partner) coincided with poor trade balance figures on Tuesday and today we have employment figures out of Canada which could cause more volatility for the currency. Get in touch with your trader for a live market rate.
