Daily Brief – British Pound

British Pound

With USD strengthening on the appointment of newly minted Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, it was inevitable that Sterling would suffer disproportionately, having been propelled upwards more by USD weakness than innate Pound power when the appointment was dully announced by a more than inarticulate POTUS. Having broken through GBP/USD 1.37 after seeing 1.39 earlier in the week, GBP looks more like consolidating between 1.35 and 1.37 for the moment as the markets start looking ahead to the next Bank of England meeting when there is not expected to be a change in interest rates.

EUR/USD 1.1869.

Gold and Silver

As we warned at the end of last week those precipitous rises in metals seen in January were ripe for corrections and Friday duly saw some metal enthusiasts if not actually trolleyed off certainly seeking treatment. Gold had risen to a record high of USD 5594, while Silver had also seen its record high of USD 121. When stumps were drawn in London on Friday, Gold was at USD 4836 and Silver at USD 85, showing falls of 14% and 30% respectively from their highs. The bull market story is not necessarily over in metals but getting involved requires a strong stomach and ideally a tin hat.

GBP/USD 1.3697.

Spain and Portugal

In the last quarter both Spain and Portugal saw their economies expand by 0.8% which is more than twice the EU’s average of 0.3%. In 2025, Spain saw growth of 2.8% versus the 1.5% average across the EU. Germany managed a mere 0.4% for 2025 and France 1.1%. Spain’s performance was mainly down to domestic demand in the shape of household consumption with tourism also making a good showing.

GBP/EUR 1.1541.

European Destination Values

It comes as no surprise that versus the EU average of EUR 100, Switzerland is a reassuringly expensive EUR 171 for the same basket of restaurants and hotels. Other super expensive countries in order are Iceland, Denmark, Norway, Ireland and Finland. In the 50 per cent club i.e. half the cost of the European average are in order of cheapness: North Macedonia, Albania, Bulgaria, Montenegro, Serbia and Romania. Those looking for a bargain break should also consider Turkey at less than 70% of the European average cost.

EUR/JPY 183.38.

All the Things She Said

This day in 2003 Russian band Tatu unleashed this number which not only went to Number One in the UK charts but was the first Russian song ever to do so. What it lacks in subtlety in the lyrics department is more than made up by Tatu’s enthusiasm in the shape of Lena Katina and Julia Volkova.

All the things she said
All the things she said
Running through my head
Running through my head
Running through my head
All the things she said
All the things she said
Running through my head
Running through my head
All the things she said (all the things she said)
This is not enough (enough, enough, enough)

I’m in serious shit, I feel totally lost
If I’m asking for help it’s only because
Being with you has opened my eyes
Could I ever believe such a perfect surprise?
I keep asking myself, wondering how
I keep closing my eyes but I can’t block you out
Want to fly to a place where it’s just you and me
Nobody else, so we can be free
Nobody else, so we can be free

All the things she said
All the things she said
Running through my head
Running through my head
Running through my head
All the things she said
All the things she said
Running through my head
Running through my head

Discussion and Analysis by Humphrey Percy, Chairman and Founder

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