The Pound Sterling edged higher against the US Dollar as nervous FX traders ponder the outcome of today’s US election for president. Yesterday, the Dollar had surged broadly following the news from the FBI Director which cleared Hillary Clinton of any wrongdoing in the ongoing email debacle. Though sentiment and markets are favoring a Clinton win, FX traders are wary of an upset and are generally sitting on the sidelines.
As reported at 10:31 am (GMT) in London, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.2415, up 0.15%; earlier the pair had hit a high of $1.2440 for the day, while the low was posted at $1.2383. The USD/JPY was up 0.05% at 104.524 Yen, off the daily peak of 104.595 Yen.
Data Helping to Drive Pound
Sterling remains down by more than 16% versus the greenback since the June 23rd vote to withdraw from the European Union. That kind of a surprise vote is what is worrying investors about the US elections. One analyst reports that market players are warier this time around and far less confident of the “sure thing” thus they are hedging their bets. Markets are thus relying on data for direction for today; the latest economic data for the UK was mixed with industrial production missing expectations in September while manufacturing productions exceeded analysts’ forecasts.