Law

QROPS update 1st December 2011 Pension drawdown & QROPS and QNUPS

Submitted by qrops on Thu, 01/Dec/2011

At Gerard Associates Ltd we continue our daily look at factors affecting markets and currencies allowing some insight into conditions affecting exchange rates.

Cash and income timing from a UK Pension income drawdown, flexible pensions or QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme) should be considered to maximise the Pension drawdown, QROPS and investment income taken.

Investment market volatility and currency exchange remains a challenge. The global economics are volatile and unprecedented in history. Currency exchange continues to concern expats with UK Pensions, income drawdown now including flexible pensions, a QROPS and QNUPS (Qualifying non UK Pension schemes).

 

IN THE UK 

·         The outstanding event of the day was a unanimous move by the central banks of the US, the UK, Switzerland, Japan, Canada and the ECB agreeing to reduce the interest rate on dollar liquidity swap lines by 50 basis points, immediately after the announcement, sterling moved higher towards a fresh weekly high of $1.5775 against the US dollar.

·         UK policy makers are becoming increasingly cautious regarding the economy as Chancellor George Osbourne insisted that current austerity measured kept the UK ahead of the curve compared to others facing threats from the Eurozone crisis.

·         Speculation mounted that the BoE will resort to a £100-150Bn extension of its asset purchase plan as Quantitative Easing is still the weapon of choice in the face of increasing likelihood of undershooting the 2% target for inflation. 

 

ELSEWHERE

·         The risks posed by the Eurozone crisis were epitomised by the first ever negative yield for German one year bonds, reaching a low of -0.07% as invested settled for the lesser of innumerable evils.

·         Rumours also surfaced suggesting that the ECB monetary policy meeting on December 8 could see a cut in the current 1.25% interest rates.

·         The Fed claimed the move to reduce rates on dollar swaps would “Ease strains in financial markets and thereby mitigate the effects of such strains on the supply of credit to households and businesses and so help foster economic activity.”

·         The MSCI All-Country World Index climbed 3.1% by mid afternoon and of the 24 major commodities, only natural gas suffered a decline as markets reacted to the announcement on liquidity. All 16 currencies most traded against the Dollar also posted gains. The indication that central banks are willing to working together may bring some longevity to the resulting risk rally even if the effects were sudden.

·         After initially weakening as Eurofin conceded their bailout fund had been wide of the mark, the euro strengthened 1.1% against the US dollar to close the European session at $1.3465, having peaked at $1.3533 which marked the biggest intraday jump since lenders agreed a 50% write-down of Greek debt.

·         The biggest winners against the US Dollar were the Australian Dollar, which grew 2.7% to $1.0272 and the Brazilian Real, which grew 2.2% to B$1.8078. Canada’s dollar extended gains after data showed the nation’s economy grew at an annualized 3.5% in the third quarter beating the forecasted 3% and overall, the Loonie strengthened to a high of c$1.0187.

·         Early in the day S&P had cut debt ratings on lenders from BoA to Goldman Sachs to UBS but data on US business activity and employment and housing markets topped estimates.

·         The ADP Employer Services report showed companies added 206k, expected at 130k, workers in November bolstering optimism in the labour market.

·         The Chicago Purchasing Managers Index, business activity expanded at fastest pace for 7 months signalling a continuation of the factory-led expansion.

·         Pending home sales were also up, 10.4% in October, recording their biggest gain for 12 months and 5 times the forecast.

·         China contributed to risk appetite as the People’s Bank cut the reserve requirement ratio for banks by 0.5% in order to spur growth. The move shows a reversal in policy which will augment the capital by some Rmb400bn ($63bn). 

 

DATA TO LOOK OUT FOR (all times GMT)

·         11:30 The BoE Financial Stability Report will indicate how confident the central bank is regarding the stability of the  financial system as it stands and assess the risks it faces.

·         13:30 US Unemployment Claims are expected to number 390k. This indicator of newly unemployed is highly correlated to consumer spending and is therefore of great interest to many market participants.

·         15:00 After the Chicago index read positively yesterday, the ISM Purchase Manager’s Index, also from the States, is expected to follow suit with 

 

Current Spot Rates (9.00am)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USD

EUR

AUD

CAD

CHF

DKK

NOK

HKD

SEK

ZAR

JPY

GBP

1.5669

1.1653

1.5396

1.5996

1.4291

8.6620

9.0602

12.1800

10.63

12.80

121.459

USD

 

0.7531

0.9826

1.0209

0.9121

5.5281

5.7822

7.77

6.78

8.17

77.515

EUR

1.3278

 

1.3212

1.3727

1.2264

7.4333

7.7750

10.45

9.12

10.98

104.230

 

Key Support and Resistance Levels

 

 

 

 

Support

 

Resistance

GBPUSD

1.5292

1.5406

1.5551

 

1.5810

1.5924

1.6069

GBPEUR

1.1538

1.1590

1.1636

 

1.1736

1.1790

1.1837

EURUSD

1.3009

1.3133

1.3286

 

1.3563

1.3687

1.3840

 

Gerard Associates Ltd advises UK residents, expats and people considering living abroad on the technical and currency options available for Pensions, pension income drawdown, flexible pensions, QROPS, QNUPS and investments in a clear format allowing all customers to make an informed choice. Our service encompasses Pension including QROPS and QNUPS and investments in a clear format allowing all customers to make an informed choice.

This with the reassurance and security of UK FSA authorised and regulated advice - essential for your security.

Pensions in the United Kingdom

The UK Pension scheme is going through considerable legislative changes. It currently comprises of state and voluntary provision.

  1. State earnings-related basic pension
  2. State second earnings-related element,
  3. Voluntary occupational pensions
  4. and voluntary personal pension components.

From October 2012, every UK employer will be required by the Government to set up a workplace pension scheme for their employees. Employers who fail to comply could be jailed or face substantial penalties of up to £10,000 per day. The idea behind it is to counteract the on-going trend of decreasing coverage of supplementary pension provision.

UK Government projections anticipate that by 2030 around 29% of the population will be aged 60 or over, compared with around 22% now.

 They also plan that all eligible workers, who are not already in a good quality workplace pension, will gradually be automatically enrolled into either a qualifying workplace pension scheme (QWPS) or into the NEST pension scheme. Automatic enrolment means employees will join the workplace pension scheme unless they actively decide not to be in a scheme.

Qualifying Workplace Pension Schemes (QWPS)

The amount of contributions that must be paid in order for a scheme to be treated as a QWPS is being phased in as follows:

Date

Total minimum

contribution

 

Minimum employer

 contribution

 

Minimum difference to be made up by employee % (gross) *

October 2012 to September 2016

2%

1%

1%

October 2016 to September 2017

5%

2%

3%

October 2017 onwards

8%

3%

5%

 

* The minimum difference includes tax relief available on employee contributions.


The default retirement age of 65 is also to be phased out.

Public Pensions


The UK State Pension system is composed of: 

  • the Basic State Pension - a flat-rate payment that requires a National Insurance contribution record of 30 years to receive full benefits.
  • the State Second Pension (S2P) - replaced the old State Earnings (Related Pension Scheme) in order to provide an additional state pension for low and moderate income earners.
  • the Pension Credit.

Occupational Pensions


The UK operates until October 2012 a voluntary occupational pension system. The current reform proposals are intended to encourage savings for retirement and less reliance on the state.

Defined benefit schemes have seen a dramatic decrease in favour of defined contribution schemes due to the complex liabilities and employers aiming to contain costs. The costs are associated with risks as a result of the funding difficulties after the downturn in equity markets, accounting issues and demographic trends.

In April 2006, The Pension Protection Fund was established as a safety net against scheme employers becoming insolvent. Its role is to compensate members of Defined benefit schemes in the event there are insufficient assets in the pension scheme.

 As of 2006, new Defined benefit scheme funding regulations replaced the old Minimum Funding Requirement (MFR). The Pensions Act 2004 implemented the Statutory Fund Objectives (SFO), which require that salary-related occupational pension schemes must have sufficient assets to cover their technical provisions. A pension plan is required to set up a recovery plan if it fails to meet the SFOs.

For external funding two plan types are available, namely insuranced schemes and self-administered plans.

Small self-administered Schemes (SSAS) 

A SSAS requires the appointment of an investment manager and a custodian is required. Investment managers have to be authorised under the Financial Services Act 1986 and formally appointed by the trustees.

Insurance schemes


Insured schemes are arrangements provided directly by insurance companies where the benefits provided are secured by one or more insurance policies or annuity contracts. They are set up under trust and are legally treated in the same way as self-administered schemes (pension funds).

Personal Pension Plans

Personal Pensions Plans are arrangements which the employee can establish individually with a provider of their choice.

Group Personal Pensions are popular as packaged occupational schemes because of their flexibility and cost-effectiveness. Group Personal are analogous to Defined contribution schemes.

Stakeholder Pension

Employers with more than five employees are obliged to provide their employees with an access to a Stakeholder Pension. The aim was cost effective and easy access but neither the employer nor the employee has to contribute to it.

Companies may be exempt from Stakeholder pension provision by:

  1. already offering a comparable standard of pension scheme
  2. or already contribute at least 3% of basic salary to an employee’s personal pension

 The employer selects the provider and all Stakeholder schemes are on a Defined contribution basis. 

Unfunded schemes

Unfunded and unapproved plans. These schemes are primarily used for executives to provide enhanced benefits.

In a document on ‘disguised remuneration’, contained in the Finance Bill 2011, the Treasury confirms legislation introduced in budget to tackle arrangements using trusts and other vehicles “which seek to avoid, defer or reduce tax liabilities” will incorporate EFRBS and EBTs. As a result, from April 2011 the arrangements will be subject to income tax and national insurance.

Tax treatment of contributions and benefits

Currently there is a lifetime allowance on the total value of tax-relieved benefits, with a maximum annual allowance in every year. The lifetime allowance (LTA) is the maximum amount of pension savings that can benefit from tax relief and is currently £1.8 million. The LTA will be reduced to £1.5 million from April 2012.

From 2011-12 onwards, the annual allowance for tax relief on pension contributions for individuals will be reduced from the previous maximum level of £255,000 to £50,000.

The UK operates an Exempt, Exempt, Taxed (EET) Pension system.

An initial tax free lump sum is usually available (25% of the fund) and benefits for a UK resident will be taxed as income in full.

There are tax charges if the lifetime allowance is exceeded; Lifetime Allowance Charge (LAC).

The LAC can be applied in either of two ways or a combination of both depending on how the excess benefits value above the lifetime allowance is taken. The charge is:

  1. 55% if taken as a lump sum, or
  2. 25% if taken as income.

Benefits may be taken in a number of ways and recent changes (April 2011) introduced a new basis of capped and flexible pension drawdown to add to the traditional annuity for life pension.

QROPS update 26th August 2011 Pension income drawdown & Foreign exchange QROPS and QNUPS

Submitted by qrops on Fri, 26/Aug/2011

At Gerard Associates Ltd we continue our daily look at factors affecting markets and currencies allowing some insight into conditions affecting exchange rates.

Cash and income timing from a UK Pension income drawdown, flexible pensions or QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme) should be considered to maximise the Pension drawdown, QROPS and investment income taken.

Investment market volatility and currency exchange remains a challenge. The global economics are volatile and unprecedented in history. Currency exchange continues to concern expats with UK Pensions, income drawdown now including flexible pensions, a QROPS and QNUPS (Qualifying non UK Pension schemes).

 

Thursday started off quite gloomy for sterling, as the first bit of news, out very early on,

showed consumer confidence in tatters, according to the latest figures from Nationwide.

Nationwide said yesterday that it sees no improvement in consumers’ willingness to spend

for the remainder of 2011 after its Consumer Confidence Index recorded a score of 49 for

July, down from 51 in June and well below the long term average of 79.

Nationwide’s chief economist said “With the economic recovery still facing

strong headwinds, it is unlikely that we will see any considerable improvement in confidence

in the remainder of 2011. Indeed, we may see further deterioration in August following riots

in a number of UK cities and the sharp declines seen in stick markets around the world”.

Consumer confidence is now falling away after signs of improvement at the start of the year.

Households are tightening the purse strings in the face of living costs that are rising faster

than wages. Many employees have seen wages frozen or are having to shoulder below inflation

pay rises.

Germany’s consumer sentiment (GfK) came in at 5.2 points in September, following a

revision that lowered the August reading to 5.3. The preliminary data showed a reading of

5.4 for August. The September figure is in line with economists’ forecasts.

“Germans’ willingness to buy is surprisingly robust,” GfK said. “However, the worsening of

the international debt crisis and rising fears of a return to recession for the global economy

have clearly left their mark on the economic optimism of Germans.”

GfK said German consumers worry that global economic weakness will affect the domestic

economic boom if export prospects collapse.

The latest reading of the Ifo business sentiment index – released Wednesday – confirms

consumers’ view. The Ifo index hit a 14 month low in August after its sharpest drop since

2008, in the latest sign that growth in Europe’s largest economy is stalling.

The number of Americans seeking new jobless benefits rose for the second week in a row as

thousands of phone workers at Verizon Communications filed claims, government data

showed.

New applications for US unemployment compensation rose 5n000 to 417,000, the Labour

Department said yesterday. Initial claims from two weeks ago were revised up to 412,000

from an original reading of 408,000.

Although the claims data was boosted by the Verizon strike, applications for jobless benefits

remain at an elevated level normally associated with subpar hiring trends. In a strong

economy, claims usually fall far below 400,000 as companies rapidly add workers.

 

IN THE UK

  • Investors worry as Nationwide Consumer Confidence Index records a score of 49 for July, despite being above consensus it shows a decline of 2 points and the lowest reading since April
  • The report shows UK inflation is outpacing wage growth, putting pressure on household incomes at a time when government budget cuts are fuelling concerns about rising unemployment
  • MPC policymaker, Martin Weale, said the Bank of England can hold fire on further monetary stimulus despite economic weakness and recent market turmoil, as the overall picture is brighter than it was in the run-up to the financial crisis. These comments are in line with remarks by fellow policymaker, David Miles.
  • GBP/EUR hits a low of €1.1318 during days trading after opening at €1.1363 and GBP/USD hits a low of $1.6260 after its recent run up to 3month highs.

 

ELSEWHERE

  • German GfK Consumer Climate comes out at a reading of 5.2 points in September, in line with economists’ expectations
  • The worsening of the international debt crisis and rising concerns of a return to a global recession clearly leaves its mark of Germans’ economic optimism.
  • In Switzerland, economic expectations slumped to the lowest level in more than two and a half years in August, sliding 12.5 points to -71.4, down from -58.9 points in July.
  • The Swiss indicator for the inflation outlook also fell, with only 14.3% of financial market experts still anticipating inflation rates advancing on a six-month horizon, compared with 23.5% a month earlier.
  • US weekly jobless claims rise more than expected, by 5,000 to a seasonally adjusted 417,000, the Labour Department said, adding that striking Verizon workers filed 8,500 claims for jobless benefits last week, after submitting 12,500 applications the previous week.
  • The RBA in Australia expect inflation to be at 3% by the end of the year but have said they will be keeping interest rates on to maintain stability despite rising inflation.

 

DATA TO LOOK OUT FOR

  • A very important day for UK data, at 9.30am revised Q2 GDP figures are released, expected to come out at 0.2%, expect significant sterling volatility if it much different to the consensus.
  • 10.30 Swiss KOF Economic Barometer, the figure is expected to fall but will the CHF continue to weaken?
  • 1.30pm in the US sees Preliminary GDP figures, Personal Consumption and Michigan Consumer Sentiment, analysts suggest the figures will be disappointing showing falls across the board.
  • The highlight of the week for USD traders is Ben Bernanke’s speech at Jackson Hole this afternoon beginning at 3.00pm. There has been speculation about whether or not QE3 will be implement today or not and what the Fed have up their sleeves to help the US economy avoid re-entering recession. The markets will be closely monitoring his words and we can expect movement in all currency pairs

 

Current Spot Rates (9.30am)

26th August 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USD

EUR

AUD

CAD

CHF

DKK

NOK

HKD

SEK

ZAR

JPY

GBP

1.6303

1.1299

1.5555

1.6082

1.2890

8.4183

8.7946

12.7000

10.28

11.77

125.605

USD

 

1.4425

0.9541

0.9864

0.7907

5.1637

5.3945

7.79

6.31

7.22

77.044

EUR

0.6931

 

1.3767

1.4233

1.1408

7.4505

7.7835

11.24

9.10

10.42

111.165

 

Gerard Associates Ltd advises UK residents, expats and people considering living abroad on the technical and currency options available for Pensions, pension income drawdown, flexible pensions, QROPS, QNUPS and investments in a clear format allowing all customers to make an informed choice. Our service encompasses Pension including QROPS and QNUPS and investments in a clear format allowing all customers to make an informed choice.

This with the reassurance and security of UK FSA authorised and regulated advice - essential for your security.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

QROPS update 11th July 2011 Pension income drawdown Foreign exchange QROPS and QNUPS

Submitted by qrops on Mon, 11/Jul/2011

At Gerard Associates Ltd we continue our daily look at factors affecting markets and currencies allowing some insight into conditions affecting exchange rates.

Cash and income timing from a UK Pension income drawdown, flexible pensions or QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme) should be considered to maximise the Pension drawdown, QROPS and investment income taken.

Investment market volatility and currency exchange remains a challenge. The global economics are volatile and unprecedented in history. Currency exchange continues to concern expats with UK Pensions, income drawdown now including flexible pensions, a QROPS and QNUPS (Qualifying non UK Pension schemes).

 

Sterling rebounded against the dollar on Friday, after much weaker than forecast US jobs data

drove investors who had added bullish bets on the greenback in expectation of a strong number

to unwind those positions.

Sterling rose to a session high of $1.6078 reversing earlier losses, with investors now targeting

the July 6 high of $1.6090. The short covering also helped the pound advance against the euro,

with the common currency last down 1% at €1.1243 .

U.S. data showed employment growth ground to a halt in June, with employers hiring the fewest

number of workers in nine months, dashing expectations the economy would regain momentum

in the second half of the year.

Analysts expect investors to sell into sterling's latest rally, although near-term support remained

robust around Friday's low of $1.5930 with traders citing bids from Asian central banks and

corporate buyers.

Earlier, the pound barely reacted to data showing Britain's construction industry struggling to

grow in May and an unexpectedly strong rise in UK factory gate inflation, which climbed to its

highest level since October 2008.

The weak data along with the high prices did little to shake the market view that the Bank of

England is committed to loose monetary policy and unlikely to raise interest rates before next

summer.

In the U.S., short-term interest rate futures traders are betting the Federal Reserve will stay on

hold well into 2012 after the June jobs report. Traders, who had thought the Fed would likely

begin raising rates by the July 2012 meeting, slashed those bets and they now see just a 36% chance of a such a hike.

 

EURO WHIPPY BEFORE STRESS TESTS

 

While the dollar sold off broadly after the jobs numbers, the euro failed to get much of a lift. The

euro was down 0.3% against the dollar at $1.4320 , with investors wary about the single

currency amid lingering concerns about debt contagion.

Traders said against the pound, the euro has support around 88.595 pence -- the low hit on June

27 -- and then around 88.50 pence, the 50% retracement of the euro's rise from a low of

86.11 pence on May 26 to its 15-month high of 90.84 on July 1.

Earlier, the euro had come under pressure on a European Union draft report outlining measures

to deal with weak banks and the suspension of trade in shares of Unicredit.

The single currency then bounced back, with traders citing a Reuters report saying all five Italian

banks covered in EU stress tests had passed.

Overall, Schmidt at Lloyds said investors will be wary of adding euros to their portfolios ahead of

the results of EU-wide bank stress tests next week.

The euro had risen to a 15-month high against the pound earlier this month as a result of the

single currency's favourable interest rate differentials.

On Thursday, the European Central Bank hiked base rates to 1.5% and markets have

priced in another rise this year, although some analysts expect it to take a pause

 

IN THE UK

  • The pound had little response on Friday to a rise in Producer Output prices on Friday as investors felt the information was not enough to warrant a shift in interest rate speculation.
  • However, after lunch GBP/USD spiked almost a cent to 1.6073 as disappointing employment data in the US causes a USD selloff
  • The pound rises this morning to a high of 1.1299 against a slightly weaker euro as debt worries remain in the news.

 

ELSEWHERE

  • Friday’s much anticipated US employment figure are significantly worse than expected, some experts were hoping for a figure over 100k, the posted figure was 18k the lowest rise since September 2010.
  • Unemployment rate in the US follows week Non Farm Payrolls data and rises to 9.2%.
  • EURUSD falls to a low of 1.4138 after reports suggest that the debt problems are going to hit Italy. Europe’s 3rd largest economy would require the EU bailout fund to be doubled to 1.5 trillion euros if intervention was needed.
  • Markets are now beginning to think the euro is a dangerous bet, many have felt that it has been overpriced recently and despite all negative press never seems to go down. Whilst EUR/USD and GBP/EUR would appear to support this comment EUR/CHF, EUR/JPY and EUR/NZD all within 20 pips of multi-year lows.
  • AUD suffers slightly as Chinese inflation is slightly higher than expected and China says they will be watching monetary policy closely.
  • The US debt talks will continue today, no progress has been made and there are just 3 weeks to go before deadline of 2nd August to reach a resolution.

 

DATA TO LOOK OUT FOR

  • Quiet day of data today includes Norwegian CPI figures
  • Canadian House Starts at 1.15pm followed by Bank of Canada Business Outlook Survey for Q2.
  • EU Finance ministers meet today to discuss amongst other things Italy and to prepare to accept Greece’s should default on some of its bonds.
  • President Obama continues debt talks with members of congress and treasury.
  • Overnight tonight in the UK RICS release the Housing Price Balance, the figure is expected to show a slight improvement in housing market condition and move up from -28 to -25.

 

Current Spot Rates (9.30am)

11th July 2011

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

USD

EUR

AUD

CAD

CHF

DKK

NOK

HKD

SEK

ZAR

JPY

GBP

1.5977

1.1294

1.4927

1.5414

1.3383

8.4224

8.7342

12.4310

10.43

10.78

129.002

USD

 

1.4159

0.9343

0.9648

0.8376

5.2716

5.4667

7.78

6.53

6.75

80.742

EUR

0.7063

 

1.3217

1.3648

1.1850

7.4574

7.7335

11.01

9.23

9.54

114.222

 

Gerard Associates Ltd advises UK residents, expats and people considering living abroad on the technical and currency options available for Pensions, pension income drawdown, flexible pensions, QROPS, QNUPS and investments in a clear format allowing all customers to make an informed choice. Our service encompasses Pension including QROPS and QNUPS and investments in a clear format allowing all customers to make an informed choice.

This with the reassurance and security of UK FSA authorised and regulated advice - essential for your security.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

QROPS update 6th January 2011 Pension Foreign exchange QROPS and QNUPS

Submitted by qrops on Thu, 06/Jan/2011

At Gerard Associates Ltd we continue our daily look at factors affecting markets and currencies allowing some insight into conditions affecting exchange rates.

Cash and income timing from a UK Pension or QROPS (Qualifying Recognised Overseas Pension Scheme) should be considered to maximise the Pension, QROPS and investment income taken.

Investment market volatility and currency exchange remains a challenge. The global economics are volatile and unprecedented in history. Currency exchange continues to concern expats with UK Pensions, QROPS and now QNUPS (Qualifying non UK Pension schemes).

 

Sterling lost ground yesterday against a resurgent dollar after data showed US companies were hiring at a much faster pace than expected, while activity in the UK construction sector contracted in December to 49.1 from a previous 51.8 in November. The forecast was 51.0; however considering the weather the UK has experienced in December it is hardly a surprise the figures fell short.

With construction down and house prices falling, it seems the UK is still on shaky grounds and it’s unlikely we will see domestic interest rates rise in the short term, despite higher than ideal inflation.

US ADP employment change, released at 1.30 pm sent the dollar to a high of $1.5452. US private employers added 297,000 jobs in December against November’s 92,000, economists were only expecting 100,000 jobs to have been created.

The greenback rallied against all of its major counterparts, especially sterling. The reading bodes well for Friday’s non-farm payrolls report and may lead the dollar to continue to strengthen Following the employment figures, ISM Non-Manufacturing index also came out better than expected. The figure was expected to be 55.7 but actually came out at 57.10 again lending support to the US dollar.

 

While sterling remained volatile and the dollar strengthened, the euro was range bound trading between €1.1710 and €1.1797, struggling to break over the €1.18 level.

The European Producer Price index for November rose slightly, from 4.4% to 4.5% strengthening the Euro minimally. European Industrial New orders for October were also released yesterday, forecasted at around 18.4% the actual figure of 14.8% reversed any gains the euro had made and helped keep the euro within the 1.17 range.

All in all a very lacklustre day for the euro.

 

Elsewhere, the Australian dollar retreated from a 28-year high against the US dollar and weakened significantly against a basket of currencies, as worries over the effects of a flood in Queensland undermined the currency. The area plays a hugely important part in the exports of wheat and coal, and on the back of this the Aussie dollar was hit.

With a mixture of data out today, most of this coming from the euro zone, the markets could be quite volatile. Starting the day off, we have UK Purchasing Manager Index Services.

 

Gerard Associates Ltd advises expats and people considering living abroad on the technical and currency options available for QROPS Pensions, QROPS, QNUPS and investments in a clear format allowing all customers to make an informed choice. Our service encompasses Pension including QROPS and QNUPS and investments in a clear format allowing all customers to make an informed choice.

This with the reassurance and security of UK FSA authorised and regulated advice - essential for your security.

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