GBP/EUR, GBP/USD, GBP/AUD Exchange Rates Climb on Brexit News and US Inflation
16 February 2018 by News DeskCurrency experts FC Exchange discuss the day's market movements in a quick economic update.
The pound and euro both began Thursday’s European session making gains against the US dollar (GBP/USD, EUR/USD) after US consumer prices failed to edge lower. US inflation came in at 2.1% instead of the 1.9% forecast, creating concerns in the market that the US Federal Reserve might begin aggressively hiking interest rates. The pound was able to breach the 1.40 barrier yet again, while the euro breached the 1.25 level. The pound was also in a position to climb against the euro, rising by around 0.30%, while making gains of around 0.60% against the Australian dollar
Meanwhile, in the UK retail sector, Laura Ashley issued a profit warning blaming the pound’s Brexit-inspired weakness as the main cause. The retailer announced that its pre-tax profits had dropped by 45% in the six months through December 2017, citing the fallen pound as ‘the most significant single factor’.
The pound was offered some support when the EU removed something named as a ‘punishment clause’ from a draft of the Brexit transition arrangement. Yesterday, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson stated that it would be ‘intolerable and undemocratic’ if the UK had to be subjected to laws from the EU following Brexit in 2019. Boris believes that the UK needs to be able to make its own trading regulations after the divorce with other nations that are separate from the EU.
The pound is currently trending in the region of 1.1271 against the euro (GBP/EUR), and 1.4063 against the US dollar (GBP/USD). The pound to Australian dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate is trending at 1.7784.
Disclaimer: This economic update is provided by FC Exchange a Global Reach Group Company, industry leaders in foreign exchange. Authorised affiliates are permitted to reuse content.
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