This morning the Pound began the week trapped in a bearish relationship with the US Dollar having declined notably on Friday in response to upbeat US manufacturing figures.
The surprisingly positive manufacturing report added to the case for the Federal Reserve tapering stimulus before the end of the year – particularly when viewed in conjunction with the latest Federal Open Market Committee policy statement – and boosted the ‘Buck’.
The US Dollar Exchange Rate was trading in the region of 0.6264 against the Pound as of 15:40 GMT
However, over the course of the European session the Pound recovered losses against the US Dollar, strengthening by the most for more than five days after UK construction output accelerated at the most rapid pace for six years.
That being said, the Pound later pared its advance as US factory orders were shown to have climbed for the first time in two months in September.
After previously declining by 0.1 per cent US factory orders rallied by 1.7 per cent in September, just shy of the 1.8 per cent gain forecast.
However, the figures did show that orders for a range of goods dropped by more than estimated in what Reuters News Agency has called ‘a sign companies cut their investment plans sharply as Washington hurtled to the brink of default’. New orders of non-military goods dropped by 1.3 per cent during the month.
As London-based strategist Kit Juckes comments; ‘The US policy outlook is clouded. The data will decide what happens next, which puts the focus on third-quarter GDP and October payrolls at the end of the week.’
The US Dollar to Pound (USD/GBP) Exchange Rate hit a low of 0.6259
So US news to focus on in the days ahead includes tomorrow’s ISM non manufacturing composite gauge, Wednesday’s MBA mortgage applications report and leading indicators figures, Thursday’s US GDP data and Friday’s non-farm payrolls.
Economists have forecast that the US economy added 125,000 positions in October, with the unemployment rate rising to 7.3 per cent.
If the figures should surprise to the upside and further fuel the fire of speculation surrounding a Federal Reserve rate increase the ‘Greenback’ could end the week on a high.
US Dollar (USD) Current Exchange Rates
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The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6264 <
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7411 <
The US Dollar/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0533 <
The US Dollar/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 98.6400 <
The US Dollar/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0412 <
The Pound Sterling/ US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.5960 >
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3508 >
The Australian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9496 >
The Canadian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9608 >
The New Zealand Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8288 >
(Correct as of 15:40 GMT)
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