GBP Boosted by BoE Minutes, EUR Softens, USD Steady Before FOMC

Published: 19 Nov at 11 AM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, China, Japan,

Pound Sterling
After softening across the board yesterday in response to expectations that the pace of UK consumer price gains will slow in the months ahead, the Pound was able to stage a rebound on Wednesday. Sterling advanced on several of its rivals as the minutes from the Bank of England’s policy meeting showed that the Monetary Policy Committee voted 2:7 on the subject of interest rate hikes. The fact that two policymakers remained hawkish was enough to push the Pound higher against the US Dollar and Euro.

US Dollar
With investors flocking to the US Dollar in the face of Japanese political upheaval, the ‘Greenback’ was enjoying a bullish relationship with the majority of its currency counterparts ahead of the publication of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy meeting minutes. A hawkish tone would bolster the US Dollar, but any dovish commentary could see the currency trim its recent gains.

Euro
Although the Euro was initially supported by data showing a widening in the Eurozone’s current account surplus, the common currency later dropped as a separate report was less positive. In October the level of Construction Output in the Eurozone fell by 1.8% on a month-on-month basis. This wiped out the previous month’s positively revised gain of 0.7%.

Australian Dollar
Along with other higher-yielding currencies, the Australian Dollar fell against the majority of its rivals as investors grew increasingly cautious as a result of the situation in Japan. Domestic data had little impact on the South Pacific asset, although investors are looking ahead to tomorrow’s HSBC Manufacturing PMI for China.

New Zealand Dollar
The New Zealand Dollar fell by over a cent against the US Dollar and shed half a cent against the Pound on Wednesday as the latest GlobalDairyTrade auction showed a further decline in prices. The latest Japanese developments also took a toll on the ‘Kiwi’.

Canadian Dollar
With domestic data lacking on Wednesday, any Canadian Dollar movement is likely to be the result of commodity price shifts or US news. Yesterday the price of crude oil fell back towards a four-year low and the ‘Loonie’ softened accordingly.
As of Wednesday, 19th November 2014, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.2499, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.5672, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.8221, GBP NZD exchange rate was 1.9996, GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.7789, GBP CNY exchange rate was 9.5904, and GBP JPY exchange rate was 185.1809.

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