The Pound Sterling earlier struck a 2-week peak against the US Dollar after one key policymaker commented on the importance of a rate increase from the Bank of England. Ian McCafferty, of the BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee is one of two member who last month voted in favor of a rate increase, said that the given the recent improvements in wage growth and the inflation rate hitting close to the central bank’s 2% target it was important to quickly move forward with a rate increase. Analysts have forecasted a May rate hike as the next time the BoE will make an adjustment to monetary policy.
As reported at 11:03 am (BST) in Tokyo, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.4169, a gain of 0.28% and just off the session high of $1.4179; the low for the trading day stands at $1.4121. The EUR/GBP is trading at 0.86998 Pence, down 0.2622%; the pair has ranged from a session trough of 0.86925 Pence to a peak of 0.87220 Pence.
Dollar Boosted as Trade War Fears Wane
In the United States, the US Dollar was higher after a speech from China’s President helped to ease worries of a trade war. Xi Jinping promised that he would cut import tariffs and to open up China’s economy even more. Market players were concerned that the Chinese President would escalate the rhetoric initiated by Donald Trump; that he failed to take the bait and appears against isolationist moves has helped to whet risk appetite. As a result, the Japanese Yen took a hit with the USD/JPY trading at 106.988 Yen, a gain of 0.21% and off the session peak of 107.246 Yen.