The efforts of the UK government to hasten the pace of the vaccine roll out program in an attempt to slow the spread of the Coronavirus has helped to push the Pound Sterling to a fresh 2+ year peak. The GBP/USD pair broke above the key level of $1.38, a level not seen sine April 2018, with market optimism continuing to boost the currency. Compared to much of Europe, the UK government appears poised to have made headway toward vaccinating its citizens against the deadly virus, which analysts say will help the UK economy to recover that much more quickly. Currency strategists point out that it's not all good news; they caution that the currency is likely to still be jarred by the Brexit issues that had not been well addressed, namely border and protocol issues involving Northern Ireland.
In London trading as of 11:14 am, the GBP/USD was trading higher at $1.3845, a gain of 0.2367% and straying from the session peak of $1.38566, while the low was recorded at $1.38019. The EUR/GBP was lower at 0.8757 Pence, down 0.1448; the pair has ranged from a low of 0.87507 Pence to a peak of 0.87822 Pence.
Fundamental Events in Focus
Across the globe, inflation data has been coming out. In China, the National Statistics Bureau reported that January's annualized CPI had fallen to -0.3%, against an expected drop to 0% from 0.2%. In Germany, CPI for the same period was flat at 1.6%, largely as analysts had predicted. Later today, the US Department of Labor Statistics will be releasing CPI and Core CPI for January; the current predictions anticipate a slight fall in core CPI to 1.5% from 1.6%. With little else of note on the economic calendar, market attention may focus on speeches from two key central bankers; Andrew Bailey of the Bank of England and Jerome Powell of the Federal Reserve, are both due to speak later today.