The Pound Sterling inched higher against a lackluster US Dollar despite uncertainty over the Brexit negotiations. Analysts concur that the Pound’s rise is largely a factor of the greenback’s relative weakness at this time, and that the GBP/USD pair is without direction. Markets are awaiting the latest economic news out of the UK to help support the Pound but key pieces of the puzzle won’t be released until next week when consumer and producer inflation are due out. Markets are also wary of US inflation and jobs data to get a clearer picture of what the Federal Reserve might do, especially now as it seems the FOMC is waiting on inflation figures to solidify their decision making process.
As reported at 11:22 am (BST) in London, the GBP/USD is trading at $1.3211, a gain of 0.07%; the pair had earlier hit a peak of $1.3265 while the session low stands at $1.3208. The EUR/GBP is up 0.03% and 0.8972 Pence, moving off the session high of 0.89751 Pence while thesession low stands at 0.8948 Pence.
Brexit Talks Not Currently Relevant
Currency strategists say that markets have focused on this week’s upbeat economic data from the UK. That has led to optimism that the Bank of England will be hiking rates in 2018, a factor which is already being priced into the Pound. Later today, the Brexit Secretary will be joined by the EU negotiation to update the Brexit negotiations; markets have little confidence that much progress has been made. One strategist points out that unless a doomsday scenario seems to be unfolding, there is unlikely to be any short-term GBP reaction.