Euro (EUR) Remains Steady as ECB Holds Interest Rate at 0%

Published: 6 Jun at 5 PM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, China,

Pound Sterling (GBP)

The Pound remained steady against many of its competitors today on a lack of UK economic data, while Mark Carney, the Chair of the Bank of England, failed to make any comments on monetary policy, relieving some Sterling traders as expectations were that he would take a dovish tone.

Michael Gove, the Environment Secretary, commented that the Brexit leaving date on the 31 October was only an arbitrary date, and this could change depending on whether Parliament can secure a deal or not with the EU.

US Dollar (USD)

The US Dollar was subdued after a day of weak economic data, with nonfarm productivity figures for the first quarter falling below consensus at 3.4%.

These were followed by an increase in US continuing jobless claims figures, which came in at 1.682m.

Euro (EUR)

The Euro, meanwhile, steadied following the Eurozone’s GDP figures which held steady at 0.4% for the first quarter.

The European Central Bank also announced its interest rate decision, which remained unmoved at 0% - with many Euro speculators expecting a gloomy commentary on the state of the Eurozone’s economy, although this failed to manifest.

Australian Dollar (AUD)

The Australian Dollar remained unmoved following the Australian trade balance figures for April, which read as weaker-than-expected at 4,871 million – despite the 5,100 million.

These were followed by the Australian imports and exports figures for April, which, however, slipped against March’s figures.

Ben Udy, an Economist at Capital Economics, commented:

‘The economy is off to a rough start in 2019, and we suspect that things won’t get better anytime soon.’

New Zealand Dollar (NZD)

The New Zealand Dollar was flat today with no NZ economic data being released.

‘Kiwi’ traders instead focused on global trade developments, with the risk-averse currency failing to benefit from the ongoing US-China trade war, with the two superpowers still threatening one another.

US President Donald Trump has even provoked China with the threat of an increase on tariffs, leaving many New Zealand Dollar traders to remain cautious.

Canadian Dollar (CAD)

The Canadian Dollar was held back by the publication of the Canadian Ivey purchasing managers index figures for May, which slipped below the forecast of a 56.7 increase and instead remained steady at 55.9.

These were followed by the non-seasonally-adusted figures, which, however rose to 61.8, providing ‘Loonie’ traders with some hope that the Canadian economy is showing some signs of recovery.

As of Thursday, 6th June 2019, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.1257, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.2697, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.82, GBP NZD exchange rate was 1.9167, GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.6967, and GBP CNY exchange rate was 8.7736.

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