Currency news / March 24, 2026

Trump sends markets on a wild ride

3 min read Thanim Islam

Thanim IslamMarch 24, 2026

Market snapshot:

Overnight reports of Iranian gas infrastructure strikes boost oil prices
Limbo land as markets look no further than the latest Trump headline

Yesterday's currency recap

Yesterday's trading session saw market volatility ramp up further, following a weekend statement from Trump that Iran had 48 hours to re-open the Strait of Hormuz or face military strikes on key energy infrastructure. Oil, the dollar and bond yields all initially surged on the news, whilst equites plummeted. At one stage markets were fully pricing-in 4 UK rate hikes by year-end.

Mid-morning, a statement from Trump that the US and Iran had been having "good talks" and that the US military would not strike Iran's infrastructure for 5 days whilst talks continue saw an immediate reversal of the early moves.
In reaction to the temporary cessation, oil prices immediately fell by 15%, and bond yields and the dollar tumbled back down.

Overnight, unconfirmed reports of strikes on Iranian gas infrastructure have boosted oil prices, as markets nervously await the start of the new trading day

Today's GBP rates

Currency pair	Daily move*	Indicative rate**
GBPAUD	0.28%	1.9213
GBPCAD	0.02%	1.845
GBPCHF	0.01%	1.0560
GBPDKK	0.09%	8.645
GBPEUR	0.08%	1.1575
GBPJPY	-0.10%	212.9
GBPNOK	-0.02%	13.071
GBPNZD	0.16%	2.296
GBPSEK	0.03%	12.5285
GBPUSD	0.02%	1.3425

*Daily move - against G10 rates as of 17:00 GMT, 23.03.26
** Indicative rates - interbank rates as of 17:00 GMT, 23.03.26

Key data points

Currency	Event	Period	Consensus	Previous
EUR	S&P Global Germany Services PMI	Mar	52	53.5
EUR	S&P Global Germany Composite PMI	Mar	51.1	53.2
EUR	S&P Global/BME Germany Manufacturing PMI	Mar	49.5	50.9
EUR	S&P Global Eurozone Manufacturing PMI	Mar	49.3	50.8
EUR	S&P Global Eurozone Services PMI	Mar	50.5	51.9
EUR	S&P Global Eurozone Composite PMI	Mar	50.5	51.9
GBP	S&P Global UK Services PMI	Mar	53	53.9
GBP	S&P Global UK Manufacturing PMI	Mar	51	51.7
GBP	S&P Global UK Composite PMI	Mar	53	53.7
USD	S&P Global US Manufacturing PMI	Mar	n/a	51.6
USD	S&P Global US Services PMI	Mar	n/a	51.7
USD	S&P Global US Composite PMI	Mar	n/a	51.9

What we think

Geo-political events are clearly continuing to dominate markets but should we see a swift end to the hostilities, the "damage" to the global economy thus far could be healed very quickly, enabling bond yields to fall back, and relieving the current pressure on central banks to aggressively hike interest rates in order to tame inflation. Of course the opposite is also true, were the current situation to drag on the impact on global trade and inflation would be severe.

For now we are in limbo land as markets are looking no further than the latest Trump headline.

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