The Pound Sterling to Euro (GBP/EUR) and Pound Sterling to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rates have both been soft today, with the UK currency generally making low movement against the bulk of its rivals.
UK Economic News: Unfavourable Domestic Data Compounds Unresolved Issues
The Pound (GBP) has trended in a tight range against a majority of its competitors today, with losses primarily stemming from the lack of impactful domestic data and a general concern over the state of the UK’s economic prospects.
In terms of UK economic announcements, the only information so far has been that the BRC shop price index on the year in March has ‘improved’ from -2% to -1.7%, while the annual new car registrations for the same month have dropped from 8.4% to 5.3%.
Outside of these releases, the Pound has been devalued by a continued tension regarding the UK’s flagging steel industry, as well as increasing pressure on the government to respond to the recently released ‘Panama Papers’.
The Pound has made fractional gains against the Euro (GBP/EUR) today but fallen by a small amount against the US Dollar (GBP/USD).
Euro (EUR) Slides Today while US Dollar (USD) Goes Steady
The Euro (EUR) has been declining overall so far although losses have been, for the most part, limited in their scope. The most recent news from the Eurozone has been decidedly mixed, with the positive outcome of the German industrial production results for February being balanced by the less-than-supportive overall Eurozone retail PMI result for March.
The Euro has made a loss of -0.2% against the US Dollar (EUR/USD) but has been static against the Pound Sterling (EUR/GBP) today.
The US Dollar has been making positive movement overall today, with gains mainly stemming from yesterday afternoon’s positive non-manufacturing and services composite result for March.
The ‘Buck’ has risen by 0.3% against the Pound Sterling (USD/GBP) and the Euro (USD/EUR) today.
Future Currency Forecast: Fed Activities to Dominate Remainder of Day’s GBP, EUR, USD Movement
With the day’s high-impact Eurozone and only real UK economic contributions now out, it remains for further movement to be generated by the impending US economic events of the afternoon.
For the most part, this will consist of Federal Reserve contributions, with speeches from Loretta Mester and James Bullard coming out along with the minutes from March’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting.
Current GBP, EUR, USD Exchange Rates
The Pound Sterling to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.2433, while the Euro to Pound Sterling (EUR/GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.8044.
The Pound Sterling to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.4101, with the US Dollar to Pound Sterling (USD/GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.7092.
The Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.1344 and the US Dollar to Euro (USD/EUR) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.8819 today.