Pound Sterling US Dollar GBP USD Exchange Rate Climbs ? Further Gains Forecast if Unlikely Steel Resolution is Reached

March 29, 2016 - Written by Ben Hughes

STORY LINK Pound Sterling US Dollar GBP USD Exchange Rate Climbs ? Further Gains Forecast if Unlikely Steel Resolution is Reached

British Pound to Japanese Yen losses may be worsened in the future, if the UK government fails to reach a speedy resolution on the ballooning losses faced by the UK's steel production facilities.

The British Pound has slipped down against the Japanese Yen today, potentially on account of the recent turmoil that has been facing the UK's waning steel industry.

GBP/JPY Exchange Rate Reached a High of 161.660 Last Thursday

A public holiday across much of the Western World yesterday did not equate to no movement in the global currency markets.

For large parts of the globe, it was a case of business as usual; Asian markets led the way when they re-opened late on Sunday UK time and price action was mixed.

After a poor session for UK shares on Thursday - the last day they opened – investors focused on Asian equities. Tokyo’s benchmark Nikkei 225 registered good gains, closing up by a healthy 0.77%, and the safe haven Japanese Yen (currency : JPY), lost ground against the Pound Sterling (currency : GBP) as a consequence. The Pound Yen exchange rate jumped to an intraday high of 161.660 as a consequence.

Damp Risk Sentiment Last Week saw GBP/INR Exchange Rate Above 95.000

Meanwhile, Bombay’s headline Sensex index shifted the other way, registering losses of 1.46%, as investors responded negatively to the weekend’s terrorist atrocities in neighbouring Pakistan.

The Pound to Indian Rupee (currency : INR) exchange rate was changing hands in the low 94.000 during early trade, but the shift out of risk in India saw market participants abandon the high-beta Rupee, sending the pair back above the 95.000 GBP INR threshold.

Disappointing US Personal Consumption Expenditure Weighed on US Dollar Demand

Elsewhere, yesterday’s afternoon session brought a raft of data releases in the US. February’s domestic Personal Consumption Expenditure data was the highlight and it proved to be mildly unhelpful to the US Dollar (currency : USD).

January’s counterpart number showed at 1.7% and a slight improvement to 1.8% had been anticipated by analysts. The result of 1.7% therefore came as a disappointment to Dollar holders and caused FX insiders to push back their prediction for the timing of the next Federal Reserve interest rate hike.

The GBP USD exchange rate improved from an intraday low of 1.4121 to 1.4271 following the publication and further gains are forecast for the pair if this afternoon’s US Consumer Confidence data also disappoints.

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TAGS: American Dollar Forecasts Pound Dollar Forecasts Pound Rupee Forecasts Pound Forecasts