Pound Sterling Gains Against AUD, NZD & USD Thanks To Weak US Jobs Data

Modified: Sunday, 7 April 2013 17:20 BST - Written by James Fuller

STORY LINK Pound Sterling Gains Against AUD, NZD & USD Thanks To Weak US Jobs Data

Last week’s session ended on a positive note for the Pound when leading credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s announced that it is maintaining the UK’s AAA credit rating – for the time-being at least. Fears had been rife amongst investors holding Sterling-denominated assets that Moody’s announcement last month that it was downgrading its rating of Britain’s sovereign debt might trigger similar moves from S&P and Fitch.

The announcement, which came shortly after Friday’s European equities close, ensured that the UK tender finished the week with a flourish. Sterling was trading back above the 1.1800 threshold against the euro before Friday’s close. The Pound enjoyed even greater gains against the high-yielders, with the Pound Australian Dollar exchange rate (currency : GBP EUR) ending the week at 1.4770, whilst the Pound New Zealand Dollar exchange rate had climbed to close to 1.8200 by the market shutdown.

Sterling’s gains against the high-yielders were not solely due to S&P’s announcement; extremely weak US jobs data, released in the middle part of Friday’s European session, caused appetite for risk to drain from the market. March’s US Non-Farm Payrolls data revealed that a measly 88,000 jobs had been added to America’s vast economy last month. Analysts had been expecting the figure to show at closer to 200,000. The pronounced flight to safety which followed the US data release sent global stock markets tumbling and prompted institutional investors to shift out of risk-laden assets including the Australian & New Zealand Dollars and the South African Rand.

The news from the States also caused the US Dollar to suffer a pronounced bout of selling pressure, as investors scaled back their bets that the Federal Reserve would downsize its Quantitative Easing property in the near-term. The move against the Greenback caused the Pound to US Dollar exchange rate to jump to as high as 1.5362 late on Friday.

International Money Transfer? Ask our resident FX expert a money transfer question or try John's new, free, no-obligation personal service! ,where he helps every step of the way, ensuring you get the best exchange rates on your currency requirements.

TAGS: American Dollar Forecasts Australian Dollar Forecasts Daily Currency Forecasts