The Pound Sterling was higher against the US Dollar in Thursday trading, edging away from the earlier low and buoyed by a more upbeat reading from the UK’s Halifax House Pricing surveys for August. Analysts say that the Pound is not likely to see much more headway, however, and that recovery relative to the greenback will largely be dominated by today’s release of key data points from Europe and the US. Later today, from the United States, there will be jobless claims, non-farm productivity report, and a speech from William Dudley, the head of the New York branch of the Federal Reserve.
As reported at 11:11 am (BST) in London, the GBP/USD was trading higher at $1.3072, a gain of 0.22%; the pair had earlier been trading lower and had hit a session trough of $1.3033 while the peak is set at $1.3076, not far from the current price. The EUR/GBP is trading at 0.9161 Pence, a gain of 0.22%; the pair has ranged from a session low of 0.91358 Pence to a peak of 0.91700 Pence.
ECB Likely to Delay QE Discussion
Traders are awaiting the ECB rate decision due out shortly; presently, analysts have no clear consensus as to what Mario Draghi and the ECB’s Governing Council might decide to do about the current QE scheme. Many strategists believe the ECB is more likely to postpone a decision until a later date. Currently, the EUR/USD is trading at $1.198, a gain of 0.50% and off the session peak of $1.19829 while the day’s low stands at $1.19143.