The US Dollar is trading slightly higher against the Pound as investors saw the UK currency’s rise to a nine-month high as the perfect time to sell off their holdings of the currency in a bout of profit taking. The GBP/USD pair remains supported however as concern remains over the ongoing US budget impasse.
The biggest impact to the Dollar on Friday came after the US Labour Department announced on Thursday that it would not be able to publish its employment report for September as scheduled due to the federal government shutdown. It added that no new release date has been set. The delay in data releases increased investor uncertainty over whether the Federal Reserve will choose to hold off on tapering its monetary easing programme.
“The big problem is the issue with the debt ceiling, and then really, it’s the effect the shutdown has on data releases, which mean the Fed has nothing to work with. Tapering is going to be pushed further and further back, and that’s bad for the Dollar,” said Kara Ordway, a currency strategist at City Index Group Ltd.
Against the Euro the ‘Greenback’ is on course to make a weekly decline after Dennis Lockhart, Atlanta Fed President said that the Fed will become more cautious over any decision to cut monetary stimulus.
Comments made by International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde also damaged sentiment for the US currency after she said that the a failure by the US government to agree on a deal to raise the nation’s debt ceiling could damage growth in the world’s largest economy by as much as 2% and harm the global economy.
US Dollar (USD) Current Exchange Rates
The US Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6208
The US Dollar/Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7346
The US Dollar/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0333
The US Dollar/ Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0601
The US Dollar/ New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2048
The US Dollar/Japanese Yen Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 97.1337
The US Dollar/ South African Rand Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 9.9992
The Pound Sterling/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.6107
The Euro/ US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3612
(Correct as of 10:20 am GMT)
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