Though it couldn't maintain momentum, the Pound Sterling had earlier moved higher against its US counterpart during London trade on Wednesday as some European countries moved to reopen their respective economies. Italy, Spain and France have all now laid out plans to ease the lockdown measures they had put in place in an effort to lower the spread of the Coronavirus. That news helped to revive interest in higher risk assets, though analysts say that the success of the reopening from a healthcare standpoint may still be too early to gauge. Britain, on the other hand, is not yet ready to move to business as usual, with fatalities approaching the 25,000 mark; the government has set out May 7th as the next likely date that the guidelines will be reviewed.
As of 11:01 am in London, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.2416, a loss of 0.0403% and slipping from the earlier peak of $1.24866. The EUR/GBP was higher at 0.8742 Pence, up 0.3916%; the pair has ranged from a low of 0.86930 Pence to a high of 0.87522 Pence. The GBP/JPY was lower at 132.191 Yen, down 0.4128%.
EU Surveys Still Disappoint
In the Eurozone, the April survey of business climate taken by Eurostat showed a fall to -1.81 from the previous reading of -0.28. Across the board, reading from dropped significantly for consumer and business confidence, as well as services sector sentiment. On a bright spot, the ZEW survey conducted among Swiss business owners was unexpectedly higher at 12.7, a tremendous surge from the -45.8 reading in the previous period. Later today, German inflation data is due to be released with economists calling for a decline to 0.5% from 1.3% in the Harmonized Index of Prices on a year-over-year basis. The EUR/USD was trading higher at $1.0860, a gain of 0.3253% and off the session peak of $1.08746. Markets will also be waiting for the Fed's policy decision due out today.