Exchange Rate News: GBP/USD Close To Four-Year High

Published: 17 Feb at 10 AM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, China, Germany, Japan, South Africa,

Pound Sterling
GBP/USD – Trading in the Region of 1.6763
A report showing that UK house prices climbed in February helped the Pound achieve a four-year high against the US Dollar. Sterling was stronger against most of its currency counterparts ahead of tomorrow’s UK inflation figures.

US Dollar
USD/GBP – Trading in the Region of 0.5963
Friday’s disappointing manufacturing/industrial production figures for the US pushed the world’s most traded currency lower against several of its major peers. With some investors betting that the Federal Reserve may rethink the pace of its tapering plan the ‘Greenback’ is likely to remain under pressure today.

Euro
EUR/USD – Trading in the Region of 1.3702
The Euro was trading in a fairly narrow range against rivals like the Pound and US Dollar today thanks to a lack of influential economic news for the Eurozone. With ZEW economic sentiment surveys for Germany and the Eurozone due out tomorrow, Euro volatility can be expected.

Australian Dollar
AUD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.9032
China’s credit data helped alleviate slowdown concerns and boosted commodity-driven currencies like the Australian Dollar over the weekend. Tomorrow the Reserve Bank of Australia will publish the minutes from its latest policy meeting. If they follow the same hawkish vein as last week’s policy statement the ‘Aussie’ could advance.

New Zealand Dollar
NZD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.8361
After retail sales figures for New Zealand revealed a smaller quarterly increase than expected, the ‘Kiwi’ softened against the Pound. However, New Zealand Dollar losses were limited by China’s credit data. Over the next couple of days ‘Kiwi’ movement will most likely be driven by developments in the US and Australia.

Canadian Dollar
CAD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.9112
At the close of last week the ‘Loonie’ was able to consolidate and extend gains against the US Dollar thanks to disappointing output reports for the world’s largest economy. A surprising drop in Canadian manufacturing sales and existing home sales saw the commodity-driven currency decline against several of its other main peers. Tomorrow’s Canadian securities transactions figure could have a modest impact on the nation’s currency.

Japanese Yen
USD/JPY – Trading in the Region of 101.9000
After Japanese growth figures fell short of forecasts, a bout of risk aversion pushed investors towards the safe-haven Yen. The Japanese currency was also stronger against its US peer thanks to last week’s concerning US reports.

South African Rand
USD/ZAR – Trading in the Region of 10.8050
The Rand began the week in a fairly stable position having strengthened on Friday in response to developments in the Eurozone and US. With South African news limited ahead of Friday’s inflation rate reports, global developments will be responsible for further Rand movement.
As of Monday, 17th February 2014, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.2201, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.6719, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.8499, GBP NZD exchange rate was 1.9991, GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.832, GBP CNY exchange rate was 10.1387, GBP JPY exchange rate was 170.6904, and GBP ZAR exchange rate was 18.1076.

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