The Pound has made a second day of gains against the US Dollar as the currency remains riding high from last week’s positive UK data releases and benefits from the increased demand for riskier assets following on from upbeat data out of the USA.
Last week saw the unemployment rate in the US fall to 7% after the US economy created an extra 203,000 new jobs in November. The figure was well above the 180,000 figure predicted by economists. The positive data bolstered optimism that the US economy is on track to make a solid recovery and reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve will choose to taper its $85 billion per month monetary easing programme.
The positive data dampened demand for the safe haven US Dollar and Japanese Yen.
Demand for sterling continued to be underpinned after a recent series of upbeat U.K. data indicated that the economic recovery is deepening, boosting hopes that the Bank of England may tighten monetary policy before other central banks.
As a result investors are waiting for BoE governor Mark Carney to deliver a speech in New York later in the session. They will be looking for any signs that UK policy makers are considering tapering its easing programme.
“The U.K. data we are going to get this week will inform on the missing links in the U.K. recovery,” said Paul Robson, a currency strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc in London. “The Bank of England is staying very quiet on tightening monetary conditions, which is ultimately a green light for people to push sterling higher, most notably against the Dollar.”
Monday saw the Pound trade at a session high of 1.6391 earlier in the session before falling back to trade in the region of 1.6374.
Against the Euro the ‘Greenback’ is trading close to a six-week low due to the increased demand for riskier assets. Further gains for the single currency were prevented however due to the release of data which showed that Industrial production in Germany fell more than expected in October.
US Dollar (USD) Current Exchange Rates
The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6107
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7287
The US Dollar/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0665
The Pound Sterling/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6374
The Euro/ US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3721
(Correct as of 14:45 pm GMT)
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