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Foreign Exchange Outlook : GBP USD and EUR USD Rates Drop on Positive US Housing Data

April 26, 2011 - Written by John Cameron

The Pound Euro exchange rate (GBP EUR) is 1.1319. The Pound Dollar exchange rate (GBP USD) is 1.6457.

Although trading volumes were significantly reduced, the currency markets were open for business as usual both on Friday and yesterday and there was price movement for the major currency pairs during both of these sessions .

Perhaps the most significant theme in the markets since most European and North American investors left their desks at Thursday’s close, has been a shoring-up of support for the US Dollar.

The forward move for the Greenback was partly fuelled by technical factors; both the EUR USD and GBP USD pairs traded to their highest levels since December 2009 during Thursday’s session, leaving them both ripe for short-term profit-taking by speculators. This caused the EUR USD rate to ease from its 16 month high of 1.4648 to touch 1.4493 during Asian trading today. The GBP USD pair has seen a similar retracement over the same period and is currently trading almost 1.5c off its 16-month high of 1.6599.

Some positive US Housing Sector data, which was released yesterday afternoon, provided further support for the Dollar. The US New Home Sales numbers for March came out at 300,000 versus an anticipated 280,000, providing grounds for optimism regarding the strength of the recovery in the beleaguered US property market.

Elsewhere, the global commodities rally continues at pace, with wholesale gold and silver prices trading to new record highs of $1,518 and $49.79 respectively in the last twenty four hours. Investors are increasingly opting to shift their funds into the precious metals as a hedge against inflation and global risk as tensions in North Africa and the Middle East intensify. The continued commodities rally is likely to send the GBP AUD, GBP NZD and GBP ZAR rates lower in the near term.

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