The Pound Sterling to Euro (GBP/EUR) and Pound Sterling to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rates have both risen by considerable amounts today, following the release of the highly positive UK Retail Sales figures for September.
GBP/EUR, GBP/USD Exchange Rate News: UK Sales Growth Puts Pound Sterling in a Strong Position Today
The Pound Sterling (GBP) has risen by 0.8% against the Euro (GBP/EUR) today and posted an equally impressive 0.5% against the US Dollar (GBP/USD). Other advances for the Pound have included 0.8% against the Danish Krone (GBP/DKK) and the Hungarian Forint (GBP/HUF). The only notable loss for Sterling has been a -0.3% dip against the Russian Ruble (GBP/RUB).
The biggest boost to the UK economy today has been the release of the UK September Retail Sales figures, which have exceeded forecasts both overall and in every individual component. For the base monthly figure, the previous printing of -0.7% was exceeded by a positive result of 1.7%, while the yearly result saw the previous 3.2% eclipsed by a figure for last month of 5.9%.
Euro (EUR) Dives on Low Confidence, US Dollar has Average Performance off Yesterday’s Data
The Euro (EUR) has fallen overall today, likely due to uncertainties over the impending European Central Bank (ECB) Interest Rate Decision and a somewhat negative result in yesterday’s Eurozone Government Debt-GDP Ratio for 2014. This latter posting came in with a 0.1% rise to 92.1% yesterday, possibly due to Greece’s deteriorating condition during the previous year. Losses for the common currency have included -0.3% against the US Dollar (EUR/USD), -0.8% against the Pound Sterling (EUR/GBP) and -0.9% against the New Zealand Dollar (EUR/NZD).
The US Dollar (USD) has seen roughly equal losses and gains today, falling by more than -0.5% against the Pound Sterling (USD/GBP) and the New Zealand Dollar (USD/NZD) but rising by over 0.3% against the Euro (USD/EUR) and the South African Rand (USD/ZAR).
The US Dollar’s most recent piece of data, the Mortgage Applications figures to October 16th released yesterday, printed with a healthy rise of 11.8%, which can be considered one of the reasons for the middling performance of the ‘Buck’ today.
GBP, EUR, USD Exchange Rate Forecast: ECB Interest Rate Decision and US Claims Data to Decide Future Movement
With no further UK data due this week, movement in the trinity is only likely to come from the imminent ECB interest rate decision and the later US Claims figures for the second and third weeks of October. The ECB’s decision is not predicted to result in a change from the current rate of 0.05%, or in the Deposit Facility Rate from -0.20% or the Marginal Lending Facility from 0.30%.
With the US Claims data, however, both the Initial Jobless and Continuing Claims are expected to rise compared to previous results.
Current GBP, EUR, USD Exchange Rates
The Pound Sterling to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.3679, the Euro to Pound Sterling (EUR/GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.7311, the Pound Sterling to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.5475, the US Dollar to Pound Sterling (USD/GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.6462, the Euro to US Dollar (EUR/USD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.1313 and the US Dollar to Euro (USD/EUR) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.8842 today.
