Blog

Pound slips against Dollar and Euro

• Posted by currencies in Bank of England, Brexit, Currency, Dollar, EUR, GBP, Prime Minister, Sterling, UK, Uncategorised
• April 26, 2017
• No Comments

Sterling dipped versus the dollar and euro today, struggling for direction ahead of first quarter growth numbers due on Friday in a week so far dominated by events in the euro zone.

The pound sank to a two-week low versus the euro on Tuesday, as the single currency bounced for a second day following market-favoured centrist Emmanuel Macron’s victory in the first round of French presidential elections It stayed close to those levels on Wednesday.

Against the dollar, sterling was 0.2 percent lower at $1.2819, around a cent off six-month highs hit last week when British Prime Minister Theresa May made a surprise announcement of an early general election in June.

Besides the gross domestic product numbers due on Friday, investors are on the lookout for fresh news surrounding Britain’s exit from the European Union.

The chief driver of sterling in the last few days and this week really has been the direction of the euro and the dollar.

There haven’t really been any major sterling-specific events in the last couple of days. So really sterling is kind of caught in between a stronger euro and a weaker dollar.

The pound surged by as much as 4 cents on May’s announcement last week, but its failure to push on since points to the doubts that remain in the market about the outlook for the currency and the UK economy in the months ahead.