Earlier today the Pound moved away from a two-week low against the US Dollar as a report showing a fall in UK house prices allayed housing-bubble fears.
The US Dollar to Pound Sterling Exchange Rate was trading in the region of 0.6136 as of 15:20 GMT
The British asset went on to extend gains against the ‘Greenback’ as investors bet that the Federal Reserve will opt to keep interest rates at record lows when it meets this week.
Although the odds of the Federal Open Market Committee tapering stimulus have risen recently as a result of upbeat US data, the positive impact of the manoeuvre on the US Dollar has largely been priced in, meaning an additional ‘Greenback’ surge is only likely to occur if the Fed cuts asset purchases by more than the five billion Dollars estimated.
However, there was some uplifting news for the US today as the nation’s preliminary Markit PMI came in at 54.4 in December, up modestly from 54.3 in November.
The result fell slightly short of estimates, but was accompanied by the following statement from Markit economist Chris Williamson; ‘The flash PMI remained surprisingly high in December, suggesting strong growth momentum in the goods producing sector. The PMI fell just short of the November reading, which had been buoyed by a rebound after a disrupted October. Over the fourth quarter as a whole, manufacturing has enjoyed its best performance since the start of the year. […] The survey is yet another indication that the U.S. economy has shown greater than expected resilience to the headwinds of the uncertainty caused by the government shutdown and debt crisis’.
The US Dollar to Pound (USD/GBP) Exchange Rate hit a low of 0.6117
Separate reports showed a 1.1 per cent increase in industrial production and a rise of 0.6 per cent in manufacturing production.
Bother results were stronger than expected and the surge in US industrial output was the most significant for a year.
The ‘Greenback’ experienced little movement as a result of the data.
With the FOMC due to begin its two day policy meeting tomorrow the ‘Greenback’ is feeling the pressure, but further GBP/USD movement can be expected to occur tomorrow once UK inflation figures are published.
US inflation data will also be of interest tomorrow, as will the domestic NAHB housing market index.
US Dollar (USD) Current Exchange Rates
< Down > Up
The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6136 >
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7261 <
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: 1.6307 >
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 15:20 GMT)
Comments are closed.