Pound Jumps After UK Retail Sales, USD Flat-lines Before FOMC Minutes

Published: 21 May at 1 PM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Japan, South Africa,

Pound Sterling
GBP/USD – Trading in the Region of 1.6890
An unexpectedly strong increase in UK retail sales helped the Pound post widespread gains on Wednesday. The British currency held its advance even as the Bank of England meeting minutes showed that all nine policymakers believed that interest rates should remain at record lows.

US Dollar
USD/GBP – Trading in the Region of 0.5921
Ahead of the release of minutes from the latest Federal Open Market Committee meeting, the US Dollar was in a slightly weaker position against both the Pound and Euro. Unless the FOMC delivers a considerable surprise, movement in the ‘Buck’ will be limited.

Euro
EUR/USD – Trading in the Region of 1.3675
The Euro experienced minimal movement following the release of current account figures for the Eurozone. However, today’s consumer confidence report for the currency bloc is likely to have a considerable impact.

Australian Dollar
AUD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.9236
A steep decline in the Westpac measure of consumer confidence left the Australian Dollar reeling overnight. The South Pacific currency consolidated recent declines against peers like the Pound and US Dollar.

New Zealand Dollar
NZD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.8567
Speculation surrounding the prospect of Australia having its AAA credit rating cut dimmed New Zealand’s economic outlook and pushed the ‘Kiwi’ lower. The currency was also pressured by a 3.2 per cent drop in domestic credit card spending in April.

Canadian Dollar
CAD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.9208
A 0.4 per cent drop in Canada’s wholesale sales put the ‘Loonie’ under pressure yesterday but the commodity-driven currency has since recovered its footing against its US counterpart. The CAD/GBP exchange rate remains lower after the UK’s retail sales figures.

Japanese Yen
USD/JPY – Trading in the Region of 101.0900
The Bank of Japan opted to leave stimulus unaltered at its latest policy meeting and indicated that the support already in place was having a positive impact on the Japanese economy. The Yen rallied against several of its peers and achieved a three-month high against the ‘Greenback’.

South African Rand
USD/ZAR – Trading in the Region of 10.3540
As South Africa’s inflation report showed that inflation pushed above the South African Reserve Bank’s 6 per cent target in April the Rand pared earlier declines against the US Dollar.
As of Wednesday, 21st May 2014, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.2346, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.6899, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.8278, GBP NZD exchange rate was 1.9709, GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.8442, GBP JPY exchange rate was 171.3984, and GBP ZAR exchange rate was 17.5347.

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