The Pound Australian Dollar exchange rate has headed lower during this afternoon’s session as the UK-EU vaccine row heats up.
At the time of writing the pair are currently trading at around AU$1.7906.
Pound (GBP) Muted by UK-EU Vaccine Row
The Pound has been struggling against the Australian Dollar today as the UK-EU row over vaccine exports continues.
The row over vaccine exports to worries that it could affect the UK’s lockdown easing plans in the coming months.
Concerns grow that the ongoing row could delay the UK’s rollout by two months.
However, Health and Social Care Minister Helen Whately spoke this morning to dampen any worries:
‘I haven’t seen that [a delay of two months] but as I’ve said, we’ve been doing a tremendous job with our deployment. We are absolutely on track.’
The European Commission spokesperson Eric Mamer said that the EU wasn’t seeking to ban vaccine exports, saying:
‘In that context, the president has said that, of course, we see that, actually, companies that manufacture doses in the EU have been exporting very widely – which is in itself a good thing – but that we want to see reciprocity and proportionality in these exports.’
The Pound has limited any losses today as the UK vaccine rollout against coronavirus continues to be a roaring success.
Boris Johnson announced yesterday that Saturday had been a record breaking day for vaccine doses given, with 873,784 people receiving a jab across the UK.
Australian Dollar (AUD) Supported by Pullback in US Treasury Yields
The Australian Dollar is being supported this afternoon after a pullback is US Treasury Yields caused US Dollar sentiment to dampen.
Earlier in the day many investors flocked to the safe-haven US Dollar after Turkey’s decision to replace the Turkish central bank’s governor.
However a modest improvement in market mood has provided an additional boost to the risk-correlated ‘Aussie.’
A speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell this afternoon could drive AUD lower however.
As Powell is expected to dampen any higher inflation concerns and show ongoing support for the US’s economic recovery.
Pound to Australian Dollar Outlook: UK Employment Data in Focus
For Pound investors, tomorrow will see the release of both wage growth and unemployment change data from the UK for January.
Wage growth is forecast to have increased in January which could help bolster Sterling and offset the forecasted 5.2% unemployment rate.
Both Pound and Australian Dollar traders will be looking towards key PMI data releases during the week.
The data could give an indication into how both the UK and Australia’s economics are performing during March.
Any developments in the UK-EU vaccine row could also drive Pound movement against the Australian Dollar.
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