US Dollar to Pound Sterling Weekly Roundup & Forecast: April 7 -10

Modified: Monday, 13 April 2015 00:00 BST - Written by James Fuller

STORY LINK US Dollar to Pound Sterling Weekly Roundup & Forecast: April 7 -10

With the UK markets closed on Monday for the Easter holidays, trade of the USD/GBP exchange rate got off to a slow start this week.

On Tuesday, the US Dollar remained under pressure against its other major peers as the previous week’s disappointing domestic jobs data continued to weigh. The data released by the Washington based Labour Department reported that the US economy added 126,000 new jobs in March, a figure, which was less than half of February,’s gain and marked the smallest increase since 2013.

The Pound Sterling firmed against the majority of its most traded peers as the latest UK Services PMI came in above economist forecasts. The positive report rounded off a string of positive PMI reports and added to signs that the UK economy is continuing to strengthen.

Midweek, the US Dollar softened against the majority of its peers as investors looked ahead to the release of Federal Reserve policy meeting minutes. The Pound Sterling meanwhile was higher against the US Dollar as a UK new car registrations report came in strongly and added to signs that the economy is continuing to strength.

On Thursday, the US Dollar firmed to a one-week high against the Euro and advanced against the Pound due to the latest Federal Reserve minutes and comments by Fed policy makers suggesting that an interest rate hike could still occur in June. Fed President of New York William Dudley said that the timing of an interest rate hike depends on economic data and added that a rate hike in June could still be possible if the labour market recovery remained strong. Data released on Thursday also supported the ‘Greenback’ as it showed that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefit rose at a slower pace than expected last week.

On Friday, the Pound softened following the release of the improved US Jobless claims report. Disappointing UK Manufacturing and Industrial production data weighed on Sterling. UK industrial production was shown to have barely risen in February as an increase in manufacturing output was countered by a drop in oil and gas.

Looking ahead to next week, the main points of interest for the USD/GBP exchange rate will be Tuesday’s UK inflation and US retail sales data. Next Friday will also see the publication of the latest US inflation and consumer sentiment data.

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