Daily currency report
The pound suffered heavy losses as the vote count from the UK general election confirmed the UK would be heading to its first hung Parliament in 36 years. The euro found support as central bank policymakers, the EU and the IMF alongside central banks...
The pound suffered heavy losses as the vote count from the UK general election confirmed the UK would be heading to its first hung Parliament in 36 years. The euro found support as central bank policymakers, the EU and the IMF alongside central banks the world over agreed to a mammoth $1 trillion aid package designed to provide a degree of stability to the financial markets which have seen incredible turbulence.
Sterling
The pound continued to lose ground as results from the UK general election rolled in. Markets were focused solely on the election's outcome and largely ignored April's PPI figures which showed a jump to 1.6 per cent which would ordinarily have been sterling supportive.
US dollar
As the chances of any one party winning the UK election with a clear majority slipped away, safe haven dollar inflows gathered pace, hitting a crescendo when voting showed that no one party could win outright. The US released its eagerly awaited non-farm payrolls report with figures showing the US economy created 290,000 jobs in April, exceeding market forecasts of 200,000.
Euro
The debt crisis in Greece continued to dominate headlines, with markets and policymakers alike both fretting over the prospect of contagion. The euro found support as news emerged that the European Central Bank was to approach commercial banks in an attempt to stabilise recent market turbulence and an emergency meeting of the G7 to discuss the deteriorating sovereign debt situation had been called.
Japanese yen
The yen strengthened further against the British pound as it became increasingly apparent that the UK would have its first hung Parliament since 1974. Equity markets started brightly in the Far East and the yen weakened off as a result.