The Pound Euro exchange rate (GBP/EUR) retracted sharply over the course of Wednesday ending at 1.2133 down -0.39%. The Bank of England (BOE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) minutes released at 9:30am today revealed that the MPC voted unanimously to keep rates on hold. Traders and market participants scoured the minutes for any sign that certain panel members might have started to vote for a rate increase, but were sorely disappointed in that regard. Sterling suffered as interest rate increase horizons were extended.
The Pound Dollar exchange rate (GBP/USD) suffered (as Sterling did against almost all major currency pairs) as traders cut bets that the BOE would increase interest rates in the near term. Sterling dropped to 1.6767 -0.32%. The BOE MPC minutes dashed hopes that the bench mark rate of interest would be increased any time soon and accordingly long Sterling positions were cut back sharply.
The Pound New Australian Dollar exchange rate (GBP/AUD) defied the BOE MPC minutes reading to gain +0.66% to 1.8068. A duo of poor Australian data saw poor employment data and poor consumer price data. In particular the Consumer Price Index saw year on year figures print at a below forecast 2.9% down from a forecast of 3.2%. The lower than expected figure means the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is less likely to increase the bench mark rate of interest and therefore traders unwound long AUD positions.
Important Pound Sterling / Euro / US & AUS Dollar Exchange Rates (Updated:08:30 GMT 24/04/2014)
The Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar exchange rate is trading up +0.08% at 1.80842 GBP/AUD.
The Pound Sterling to Euro exchange rate is trading down -0.05% at 1.21401 GBP/EUR.
The Pound Sterling to US Dollar exchange rate is trading up +0.05% at 1.67907 GBP/USD.
The Euro to Australian Dollar exchange rate is trading up +0.13% at 1.48963 EUR/AUD.
The Euro to Pound Sterling exchange rate is trading up +0.05% at 0.82372 EUR/GBP.
The Euro to US Dollar exchange rate is trading up +0.1% at 1.38308 EUR/USD.
The US Dollar to Euro exchange rate is trading down -0.1% at 0.72303 USD/EUR.
The US Dollar to Pound Sterling exchange rate is trading down -0.05% at 0.59557 USD/GBP.