Markets on edge over brewing Ukrainian crisis

This week was dominated by the threats of potential war in Ukraine which had markets on edge around the world. Most people will be breathing a sigh of relief as the week draws to a close and the borders of Ukraine remain intact.

We were greeted by the grim news in the middle of the week that inflation in the UK continued to rise last month, hitting 5.5%, a near 30 year high. 

Forecasters are now predicting that it could hit 7% in the very near future.

This picture is mirrored in both the US and the Eurozone which are also continuing to struggle with high inflation and cost of living increases.

Speculation has grown this week that an almost certain further rise in interest rates in the US and UK is coming when their respective committees next meet.

Interesting news came out of China, which debuted their new ‘Digital Yuan’ at the Winter Olympics.

In currencies, the Pound dropped slightly over the course of the week against the Euro however it is now back to where it started actually slightly higher than Monday’s position. 

Against the Dollar, the Pound saw little movement remaining largely flat. This is a similar picture across most key GBP currency pairings.

Image Copyright: The Presidential Office of Ukraine, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Sonny Hellmers

Senior currency specialist