Daily Currency Update: Pound Bullish after Jobs Data, US Dollar Steady before FOMC Minutes

Published: 18 Feb at 12 PM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Greece,

Pound Sterling
With the UK economy adding more jobs than expected in the three months through December, and the nation’s unemployment rate declining, the Pound was able to strengthen across the board on Wednesday. The British currency gained by more than 0.5% against the Euro, US Dollar and Australian Dollar.

US Dollar
Ahead of the publication of the Federal Open Market Committee’s policy meeting minutes, the US Dollar was trading in a weaker position against several of its rivals. While a general risk-off environment kept the ‘Greenback’ largely elevated, it did come under strain as housing and manufacturing reports printed below forecast.

Euro
Speculation surrounding the likelihood of Greece agreeing to a six-month extension of its current bailout programme caused fluctuations in the common currency on Wednesday. The Euro was also pressured lower by a disappointing construction output report for the Eurozone.

Australian Dollar
After strengthening against most of its peers following the Reserve Bank of Australia’s meeting minutes, the Australian Dollar trimmed gains during the local session. Risk appetite was tempered by concerns relating to Greece, Ukraine and Libya, and the ‘Aussie’ slipped as a result.

New Zealand Dollar
Global economic developments outweighed a positive dairy auction and prevented a New Zealand Dollar uptrend in Australasian trading. The ‘Kiwi’ went on to soften against a broadly bullish Pound.

Canadian Dollar
‘Loonie’ losses occurred following the release of sub-par Canadian existing home sales data. The commodity-driven currency was also adversely affected by a dip in the price of crude oil. The Canadian Dollar may experience volatility later today as domestic Wholesale Sales figures are published.
As of Wednesday, 18th February 2015, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.354, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.5435, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.977, GBP NZD exchange rate was 2.045, and GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.9227.

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