The Euro to Pound Sterling (EUR/GBP) exchange rate was little changed on Wednesday, even as Eurozone confidence data came in mixed. The Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate held ground at a three-week high as economists await the release of a statement from the Federal Reserve.
Euro to Pound Sterling (EUR/GBP) Exchange Rate Touched a Session Low Of 0.7135
Earlier in the session the Pound advanced as data released by the Nationwide Building Society showed that UK house prices increased to the highest level since June last year. The report showed that prices increased by 1% in April. Nationwide said that the pickup in growth occurred even as activity in the housing market slowed, suggesting that the uncertainty generated by next week’s general election was having an impact on the market. The average price of a home in the UK now stands at £193,048.
‘There are increasing signs that the housing market is now starting to firm after weakening appreciably through the second half of 2014. Activity is likely to pick up gradually over the coming months. Meanwhile, a current shortage of properties coming on to the market seems to be providing increasing support to house prices,’ said Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight.
Investors also shrugged off Tuesdays weaker-than-forecast GDP growth data which showed that the UK economy expanded by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2015. The figure marked a slowdown from the 0.6% rise seen in the final quarter of 2014, and was the slowest pace of economic growth seen since the final quarter of 2012.
Eurozone Economic Sentiment Falls, Business Confidence Improves
The Euro managed to hold ground against the Pound and firmed against other major peers despite Sentiment and confidence reports coming in mixed.
According to the European Commission’s economic sentiment indicator, the pace of improving confidence across the single currency bloc slowed in April.
The economic sentiment indicator fell by 0.2 points to 103.7. The figure was a fall from the preceding month’s figure of 103.9. Service confidence was shown to have risen by 0.6 points and business morale ticked higher by 0.09 to 0.32, a rise from the 0.23 figure seen in March.
Market attention will now focus on upcoming German inflation data, which will give a good indication as to whether inflation across the Eurozone is rising.
Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) Exchange Rate Touched A Session High Of 1.0957
The Euro continued to advance against the US Dollar as investors look ahead to a Federal Reserve statement due to be released late in the day.
Economists are growing increasingly concerned that the economic recovery in the world’s largest economy is losing momentum.
A dovish statement will likely send the Euro climbing to its best level in a month.
