By: DailyForex.com
The British Pound was trading close to a 4-month trough as FX traders await a policy decision from the Bank of England tomorrow. Economists polled say that the Monetary Policy Committee is likely to keep rates at the current level; what will be crucial, however, is the how the members vote. Analysts say that if the vote is close it could give markets some hope that an August rate hike could still be a possibility. One word of caution from analysts is that markets have lowered their expectations of a May rate increase to 10% from 90% and thus investors may not be overly enthusiastic even over a slightly hawkish stance.
As reported at 11:06 am (BST) in London, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.35, down 0.16% and just off the session trough of $1.3499 while the peak is at $1.3558. The EUR/GBP is trading at 0.8765 Pence, a gain of 0.0438%; the pair has ranged from a session low of 0.87470 Pence to a peak of 0.87672 Pence.
RBNZ Decision Weighs on NZD/USD
Later today in New Zealand, markets will be looking for the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s interest rate decision; a recent poll shows that economists expect the RBNZ to keep its benchmark rate at the current 1.75%. Markets will await the policy statement by Adrian Orr, the Governor of the RBNZ, for some signs of any possible sentiment shift. The RBNZ, like the Fed, has a dual mandate of price stability and full employment. The NZD/USD is currently trading at $0.6973, down 0.0279%; the pair has ranged from a session low of $0.69491 to a peak of $0.69761.