The Euro fell to a new 16-month low against the Pound, a 3-month low against the Japanese Yen and fell against the US Dollar on Wednesday as the currency remains under pressure ahead of the European Central Banks June policy meeting.
The Pound surged against the Euro following the release of economic data which showed that UK retail sales soared in April.
The data released by the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales increased more than double the figure expected by economists.
The data smashed forecasts for a rise of 0.5% by coming in at 1.3%. On a yearly basis retail sales soared to by 6.9%. The growth rate is the highest seen in ten years.
Also adding support to the Pound was the minutes of the Bank of England’s latest policy meeting.
The Euro to Pound exchange rate is currently trading at 0.8109.
The minutes showed that policy makers voted unanimously to leave interest rates at 0.5% and suggested that some policy makers were edging closer to voting for an interest rate increase.
Against the Japanese Yen the Euro tumbled after the Bank of Japan said that it does not plan on introducing additional easing measures anytime soon.
Following the BOJ comments the Yen strengthened broadly against many of its major peers.
The Bank said that the Japanese economy is weathering the effects of a sales tax increase well and vowed to continue to expand the monetary easing programme at a pace of ¥60 trillion to ¥70 trillion per year.
The Euro was also under pressure from concerns over the tensions in Ukraine and worries that tomorrows European elections could see many anti-European MEPs being elected to the European Parliament.
The Euro could regain some ground on Thursday if the latest manufacturing and services PMI reports come in positively. Gains are likely to be short-lived against the Pound however as Thursday also sees the publication of the latest UK GDP growth rate data.
Euro Exchange Rates
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
Euro,
,US Dollar,1.3694 ,
Euro,, Pound Sterling,0.8109 ,
Euro,,Australian Dollar,1.4838 ,
Euro,,Canadian Dollar,1.4935 ,
Pound Sterling,,Euro,1.2330 ,
US Dollar,,Euro,0.7301 ,
[/table]
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