While the US Dollar posted widespread gains in the aftermath of the Federal Open Market Committee’s decision to taper stimulus by 10 billion Dollars, the currency’s advance on the Pound was limited as yesterday’s impressive UK employment data kept Sterling elevated.
The US Dollar to Pound Sterling Exchange Rate was trading in the region of 0.6118 as of 15:30 GMT
Early in European trading the USD/GBP pairing was little changed as investors focused on UK retail sales figures.
The fact that sales increased in November following October’s decline helped the Pound consolidate gains against the ‘Greenback’ and Euro, but the British currency later trimmed its advance.
According to strategist Simon Peck; ‘The key to UK data is that it’s corroboration and across the board you’re seeing the strength continue. That suggests there are further upside risks to growth in 2014. The market is very vulnerable to the data strength continuing.’
The US Dollar to Pound (USD/GBP) Exchange Rate hit a low of 0.6100
Comments issued by a Bank of England Official also put some pressure on the Pound.
Policy maker Ian McCafferty implied that interest rates won’t be increased suddenly even if the unemployment rate falls to the Bank of England’s target of 7 per cent next year.
With unemployment dropping more quickly than anyone had expected, the BoE may have to consider rephrasing its current forward guidance guidelines.
The USD/GBP pairing went on to experience modest fluctuations as US initial jobless claims were shown to have risen unexpectedly in the week ending December 14th.
However, although claims for unemployment benefit climbed by 10,000 senior economist Ryan Sweet asserted; ‘Claims at this time of year are very volatile, so we don’t want to put too much stock in each week’s fluctuations. Layoffs are low, which is encouraging.’
A separate report showed a larger-than-forecast decline in US existing home sales.
Property sales dropped by 4.3 per cent in November, month-on-month, rather than dropping the 2.0 per cent expected.
With UK and US growth data due for publication tomorrow the USD/GBP pairing may fluctuate further before the weekend.
US Dollar (USD) Current Exchange Rates
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The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6118 >
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7317 >
The US Dollar/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.1310 >
The US Dollar/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 104.2100 <
The US Dollar/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0704 >
The Pound Sterling/ US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6346 <
The Euro/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3666 <
The Australian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8841 <
The Canadian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9345 <
The New Zealand Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8161 <
(Correct as of 15:30 GMT)
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