- Less-than-ideal UK data sees Pound advance nonetheless
- Euro remains unstable on Greek situation
- US Dollar improves condition after NFIB results
- US inventories data last remaining major trinity news today
The Pound has been able to make a number of gains against its peers of late, in spite of the fact that the reduction in the March trade deficit has been offset by a greater rise in the deficit over the Q4 to Q1 period between 2015-16.
The Euro has been relatively unchanged by the morning’s ecostats, having failed to be shifted in either direction by the apparent continual stalemate of the Greek debt talks.
The US Dollar has made some tentative steps in a positive direction, with the NFIB small business optimism outcome for April facilitating this rise by increasing from 92.6 to 93.6.
Earlier…
The Pound, Euro and US Dollar have all trended in tight ranges so far today, with previous economic events generally serving to discourage investors from committing to any of the three currencies.
UK Economic News: Former NATO Officials Back PM’s Claims of Conflict in Europe
Yesterday’s contribution to the EU Referendum debate from the ‘In’ side was the Prime Minister’s assertion that UK and EU security would be jeopardised in the wake of a ‘Brexit’. This was largely scorned by ‘Out’ campaigners, although today’s developments have served to lend the PM credibility.
In a recent letter published in the Telegraph, five former NATO Secretary-Generals have warned that:
‘At a time of such global instability, and when NATO is trying to reinforce its role in Eastern Europe, it would be very troubling if Britain ended its membership of the EU’.
Notable Pound Sterling (GBP) movements today have included slight advances against the Euro (GBP/EUR) and the US Dollar (GBP/USD), while further gains of 0.3% against the Chinese Yuan (GBP/CNY) and 0.6% against the Japanese Yen (GBP/JPY) have been seen.
Euro (EUR) Impacted by German Stats, US Dollar (USD) Trends Narrowly on Kashkari Comments
The single currency has charted a similar course to the Pound Sterling today, having generally flopped on continued political unrest.
In addition to the Greek situation failing to be resolved, the Eurozone has also been unsettled by the recent rise in the German trade surplus for March being offset by a decline in industrial production on the month and the year.
Euro movements have included flat trading against the Pound (EUR/GBP) and the US Dollar (EUR/USD) as well as advances of 0.5% against the Japanese Yen (EUR/JPY) and the South African Rand (EUR/ZAR).
The US Dollar has repeated the low trend of its rivals, with recent comments from Fed official Neel Kashkari doing little to inspire enthusiasm.
The central bank member has urged economists to stop narrowing their focus on possible interest rate hikes, stating:
‘Given the lack of notable price and wage pressures and the possibility of drawing more people back into the labour market, I believe the current accommodative policy stance is appropriate’.
The ‘Buck’ has made no progress against the Euro (USD/EUR) or Pound Sterling (USD/GBP), but has declined by -0.2% against the Polish Zloty (USD/PLN) and risen by 0.6% against the South African Rand (USD/ZAR).
Future GBP, EUR, USD Forecast: US Wholesale Inventories Data Ahead
The near-future will bring the US March wholesale inventories outcome in the afternoon, which is pessimistically expected to show an increase in unsold inventories from -0.5% to 0.1%.
Current GBP, EUR, USD Exchange Rates
The Pound Sterling to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.2669 and the Euro to Pound Sterling (EUR/GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.7894 today.
The Pound Sterling to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.4423 and the US Dollar to Pound Sterling (USD/GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.6934 today.
The Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.1386 and the US Dollar to Euro (USD/EUR) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.8786 today.