The GBP EUR and GBP USD exchange rates have been poor today, on an empty data day for the UK that will mainly have a political focus for investors.
- GBP EUR trades at 1.17 – GBP USD rate falls to 1.25
- Pound Sterling weakened by low hopes for UK-US relationship – Will May and Trump put aside their differences?
- Euro firms on daily confidence figures – Eurozone wide confidence stats out next week
- US Dollar demand mixed after Trump’s wall-building plans – Major GDP slowdown expected today
The Euro has advanced against the Pound and the US Dollar on the back of confidence stats today, while the US Dollar has dropped against the Euro due to further signs of pettiness from the new President.
GBP EUR, GBP USD Exchange Rate Demand Plummets after UK PM Warns Trump over Protectionist Agenda
With no direct UK economic data out today, the Pound Euro and Pound US Dollar exchange rates have tanked, showing drops of -0.4% and -0.3% respectively.
This comes after the UK economy’s heavy reliance on its services sector was reaffirmed on Thursday following the release of fourth-quarter GDP figures.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Theresa May spoke to Republicans in Philadelphia. The PM highlighted that she wished to revive the UK-US ‘special relationship’, but also had warnings for the US President that he should not turn away from the world with a protectionist agenda.
May also stated that;
‘We welcome your openness to [trade] discussions and hope we can make progress so that the new, Global Britain that emerges after Brexit is even better equipped to take its place confidently in the world’.
Observers were generally of the opinion that the UK needs such deals more than the US, so this optimistic statement was seen by some to be more pleading in tone, lowering confidence in future UK-US trade talks.
Euro Gains on Confidence scores, US Dollar Damaged by Continued Trump Paranoia
For the Euro, gains of 0.3% against the Pound and a smaller advance against the US Dollar have been seen today. This comes after the bulk of the Eurozone’s data releases, which have mainly concerned confidence in France and Italy.
French consumer confidence in January has risen from 99 points to 100, while the Italian consumer and business confidence scores for the same month have respectively dropped and risen.
The US Dollar has risen by 0.3% against the Pound today but dropped against the Euro, in the wake of further unusual behaviour by President Donald Trump.
While a possible payment method from Mexico for the border wall construction has been put on the table (a 20% tax on goods from Mexico), Trump has made greater waves with claims that he is still seeking proof that his inauguration crowds were larger than Barack Obama’s, something that goes against photographic evidence of the day.
Future GBP EUR, GBP USD Forecast: Theresa May Meeting with Trump in Focus for the Afternoon
The only major UK event today will come in the late afternoon, when Theresa May becomes the first world leader to meet President Trump in person.
May has made a number of commitments before departing to the US, but it remains to be seen just how productive the talks will be, given how wildly contrasting the two national leaders and their trade policies are.
For Euro investors, further input is expected on the coming Monday morning, when Eurozone-wide confidence stats for January are announced. Currently, the only forecast is for a minor improvement in consumer confidence.
Outside of the Trump meeting, the next news from the US will be Q4 GDP growth rate results this afternoon, which are set to show a slowdown from 3.5% to 2.2% on the quarter.
Current GBP EUR, GBP USD Interbank Exchange Rates
At the time of writing, the Pound Euro (GBP EUR) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.17 and the Euro Pound (EUR GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.85 today.
The Pound US Dollar (GBP USD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.25 and the Us Dollar Pound (USD GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.79 today.
The Euro US Dollar (EUR USD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.06 and the US Dollar Euro (USD EUR) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.93 today.
