Pound Sterling Exchange Rates Weaken from Highs despite Wage Acceleration
UK wage growth may have accelerated in the three months on the year to February, but markets weren’t overly excited. Having reached notable highs recently, such as an 11-month high versus the Euro and a post-Brexit high versus the US Dollar, the upside potential for the Pound was limited. This meant that GBP spent much of the day weakening.
GBP/EUR Exchange Rate Remains Flat after German Investor Confidence Slump
Poor investor confidence figures for Germany and the Eurozone weighed on the Euro yesterday, allowing the GBP/EUR exchange rate to hold opening levels; around an 11-month high. The ZEW German expectations survey fared the worst, dropping from 5.1 to -8.2, against predictions of a decline to -1. This marked the lowest level since the Eurozone debt crisis in 2012.
GBP/USD Exchange Rate Slides after US Housing Data Beats Forecasts
The GBP/USD exchange rate dropped -0.2% yesterday after the latest US housing data printed positively. Most impressive was the 2.5% spike in building permits, compared to forecasts of stagnation. Also keeping the US Dollar firm were comments from Federal Reserve official John Williams, who stated that policymakers needed to continue with gradual rate hikes to prevent the economy from overheating.
GBP/CAD Exchange Rate Falls after CA Manufacturing Sales Beat Forecasts
Much better-than-expected Canadian manufacturing sales data for February pushed the GBP/CAD exchange rate lower yesterday. Sales grew 1.9% instead of the expected 0.8%.
GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Weakens despite Cautious RBA Meeting Minutes
Although the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) warned that the next interest rate hike was a way off in the minutes of its 3rd April policy meeting, markets had expected this. The GBP/AUD exchange rate therefore slipped lower.
GBP/NZD Exchange Rate Gains Eroded by Strong Dairy Price Growth
The Pound Sterling to New Zealand Dollar exchange rate was on strong form for most of the day yesterday. However, the latest Global Dairy Trade auction yielded a 2.7% spike in dairy prices after four consecutive weeks of losses. This helped strengthen NZD, eroding GBP gains.