Pound Sterling Exchange Rate Flat During Quiet Week
It was another slow day for the Pound on the currency market yesterday as a skeleton crew of institutional investors saw little reason to drive Sterling higher or lower during the quiet post-Xmas week.
With many traders still away from their desks and little new domestic data to contend with, there is every chance that today’s session could prove equally uneventful.
Pound to Euro Exchange Rate Rebounds from Monthly Low
The Pound to Euro exchange rate rebounded from a monthly low yesterday. However, Sterling failed to make any real inroads against the single currency.
Holders of Sterling may have been slightly concerned with a report from the Resolution Foundation suggesting that inflation is likely to outpace wage growth through 2018.
The think tank’s forecasts suggest that real wage growth will remain in negative territory for the majority of next year, which, if accurate, could dissuade the Bank of England (BoE) from raising interest rates.
The issue of wages failing to keep pace with price pressures is likely to be a key sticking point for Sterling in 2018 and could work against any significant GBP/EUR gains.
Pound to US Dollar Exchange Rate Hits Fortnightly High as US Consumer Confidence Dips
The Pound rallied by around a quarter of a cent to strike a fortnightly high versus a broadly weaker US Dollar yesterday.
The ‘Greenback’ struggled versus the majority of its most-traded currency peers, sinking to a three-and-a-half-week low against a basket of global currencies.
Demand for the US Dollar appeared to soften following data showing that US consumer confidence dipped from a 17-year high of 129.5 in November to 122.1 in December.
Pound to Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate Remains Close to 20-Day Low as Oil Price Surges to 2.5-Year Highs
The Pound remains close to three-week lows versus the Canadian Dollar, with demand for the commodity-correlated ‘Loonie’ rising due to an increase in oil prices.
Crude held close to a two-and-a-half-year high as markets continued to digest news of a pipeline explosion in Libya, while a three-and-a-half-year high peak in copper prices also bolstered the appeal of commodity-sensitive currencies like the Canadian Dollar.
Pound to Australian Dollar Exchange Rate Slides Towards 6-Week Low
With global risk-sensitive assets surging yesterday as commodity prices grew, it’s no surprise that the high-beta Australian Dollar also managed to rally versus Sterling.
GBP/AUD tumbled to its lowest level in almost six weeks as multi-year high copper prices boosted the appeal of the ‘Aussie’ Dollar.
Pound to New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate Sinks to 6-Week Low
Completing a clean sweep of losses for Sterling versus the commodity bloc, the New Zealand Dollar appreciated by around half a cent yesterday to hit a six-week high against the Pound.