US Dollar to Pound Sterling Exchange Rate Roundup: April 13 to 17

STORY LINK US Dollar to Pound Sterling Exchange Rate Roundup: April 13 to 17

US Dollar to Pound Sterling Exchange Rate Roundup – April 13 to 17

At the start of the week, the US Dollar remained supported against the Pound and other major peers due to expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates in the summer. Investors also appeared to have regained confidence that the US economy will continue to perform well despite a run of domestic data releases, which have suggested that a slowdown occurred at the start of the year. The Pound Sterling slipped to its lowest level in five years against the US Dollar as concerns over the outcome of the May 7 general election weighed upon sentiment.

On Tuesday, the US Dollar moved close to its best level in 12-years against the Euro, and was higher against the Pound Sterling, on expectations that the Federal Reserve will hike rates in the summer. As the session progressed, the currency gave up its earlier gains as retail sales data came in below expectations.

The Pound to Australian Dollar exchange rate is -0.3 pct lower with a conversion rate of 1 GBP equals 1.91673 AUD.
The Pound to Canadian Dollar exchange rate is -0.19 pct lower with a conversion rate of 1 GBP equals 1.82856 CAD.
The Pound to Euro exchange rate is +0.05 pct higher with a conversion rate of 1 GBP equals 1.38518 EUR.
The Pound to New Zealand Dollar conversion rate is -0.31 pct lower at 1.94222 GBP/NZD.
The Pound to US Dollar exchange rate is -0.03 pct lower with a conversion rate of 1 GBP equals 1.49576 USD.

Midweek, the US Dollar fell against a basket of other major currencies on speculation that the Federal Reserve could delay hiking interest rates until late 2015, instead of tightening midyear. The currency weakened further as manufacturing and industrial production missed expectations. The Pound Sterling meanwhile took advantage of the ‘Greenbacks’ weakness and managed to make gains.

On Thursday, the US Dollar remained lower against the majority of its most traded peers as the release of mixed US data increased uncertainty as to the timing of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision. The number of Americans claiming jobless benefits increased by a larger than forecast amount. Separately, the US Commerce Department released a report showing that the number of building permits declined by 5.7% last week.

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On Friday, the Pound Sterling advanced broadly against the US Dollar as the London based Office for National Statistics released data, which showed that the UK’s unemployment rate fell from 5.7% to 5.6% in February. Employment hit a new record high, up 248,000 to 31.049 million. That was the biggest increase in a three-month period since April 2014. The data also showed that average earnings excluding bonuses increased by 1.8% from 1.6% and beat economist forecasts for a rise of 1.7%. The strong figure means that wages are now outpacing the rate of inflation at a quickening pace. The data will likely prove to be a boon to the Conservative party ahead of the May 7 general election.

The main event next week for the USD/GBP exchange rate will be Wednesday’s Bank of England policy meeting minutes and Friday’s US Durable Goods report.

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