The Pound Sterling to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate has fallen today along with most of the other GBP pairings. This is mainly due to the ongoing talks by Prime Minister David Cameron in Brussels in his attempts to win over the heads of the EU prior to the UK-EU Referendum.
GBP/EUR Exchange Rate News: EU Tensions Run High as UK Referendum Talks Begin
The Pound Sterling (GBP) has been faring poorly against most of the competition so far today amid investor uncertainty over the outcome of this evening’s EU summit. The subject on the agenda will be a readjustment of the UK’s current relationship with the EU, with Cameron attempting to persuade EU leaders that some of his more controversial measures should be met. Among these is the plan to freeze the benefits of migrants for 4 years after first entering the country, so as to prevent ‘benefits tourism’. However, as of writing, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic have all stated that they will not agree to demands that are ‘discriminatory or limit free movement’.
Even better-than-expected November Retail Sales figures have failed to encourage investors, with losses of -0.7% against the US Dollar (GBP/USD) and –0.9% against the Norwegian Krone (GBP/NOK) representing the general state of play.
Euro (EUR) makes Steady Gains after Recovering from Fed Rate Hike Decision
The Euro (EUR) has slowly been gathering momentum over the course of the day, having started in the doldrums due to the mass appeal of the US Dollar (USD) greatly eclipsing the devalued US Dollar (USD). The common currency has since recovered, with words of support coming from Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann. Commenting on Greece’s economic recovery, Weidmann stated that: ‘Taking into account the low refinancing needs for the next years, further debt relief does not seem to be an issue of particularly urgent interest’.
The Euro has advanced by 0.6% against the Canadian Dollar (EUR/AUD) and 0.8% against the Australian Dollar (EUR/AUD) today, with a minor gain also being made against Pound Sterling (EUR/GBP). These results are largely a repeat of the Euro’s performance earlier in the day.
GBP/EUR Exchange Rate Forecast: Minor Eurozone Data Tomorrow ahead of UK CBI Figures on Monday
Neither the UK nor the Eurozone have ‘high-impact’ data due before next week.
There are some minor releases from the currency bloc to be aware of though, with the French Business Confidence figure for December due out in the morning and forecast for a minor decline from 102 to 101. More positively, the Italian November Wage Inflation figures are expected to rise from 0.1% to 0.2% on the month and 1.2% to 1.3% on the year.
Looking further ahead, the UK will open Monday’s session with the CBI Distributive Trades figure for December, which had no forecasts assigned to it at the time of writing, but previously came in at 7 points.
Current GBP, EUR Exchange Rates
The Pound Sterling to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.3742 and the Euro to Pound Sterling (EUR/GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.7278 today.
