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

Published: 23 Dec at 10 AM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, Germany, Japan, South Africa,

Pound Sterling
GBP/USD– Trading in the Region 1.6365
Last week’s encouraging UK economic data left the Pound riding high, and the British asset was able to brush a two-year high against the US Dollar this morning as a Bank of England official attempted to reduce housing bubble concerns.

US Dollar
USD/GBP – Trading in the Region of 0.6111
Although the US Dollar remains supported by the Fed’s decision to taper the level of bond buying, the safe-haven asset has weakened slightly ahead of the release of the US University of Michigan confidence index and domestic personal income/spending figures.

Euro
EUR/USD – Trading in the Region of 1.3675
After top ratings agency Standard & Poor’s cut the European Union’s credit rating the Euro slipped against peers like the Pound and US Dollar. However, Friday’s positive consumer confidence report for the Eurozone limited the currency’s losses. The Euro was little-changed this morning following the release of German import price data.

Australian Dollar
AUD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.8939
Last week the ‘Aussie’ was trapped in a bearish relationship with the majority of its most traded rivals. But as the local session came to an end on Monday the currency edged away from a three-year low against the ‘Greenback’ and recovered ground against several of its other peers.

New Zealand Dollar
NZD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.8207
Although economists’ expect the New Zealand Dollar’s upside bias to continue into 2014, the South Pacific currency edged lower against its Australian and US rivals as markets wind down before the Christmas break.

Canadian Dollar
CAD/USD – Trading in the Region of 0.9391
The ‘Loonie’ was left trading close to a three-year low against the US Dollar on Friday as domestic inflation data failed to meet estimates. The commodity-driven asset is likely to fluctuate significantly this afternoon after Canada’s growth report is published.

Japanese Yen
USD/JPY – Trading in the Region of 103.9900
At the close of a quiet local trading session the Yen was slightly stronger against the US Dollar but had consolidated losses against the Pound. After a BoE official allayed housing-bubble fears the Pound broadly strengthened, advancing against peers like the Yen.

South African Rand
USD/ZAR – Trading in the Region of 10.2940
Although an absence of significant South African data left the Rand trading in a fairly narrow range last week, the currency declined modestly against the US Dollar overnight as investors looked ahead to today’s US personal income/spending figures and University of Michigan confidence index.
As of Monday, 23rd December 2013, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.1936, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.635, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.8306, GBP NZD exchange rate was 1.9948, GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.7358, GBP JPY exchange rate was 170.3332, and GBP ZAR exchange rate was 16.9055.

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