The US Dollar (USD) exchange rate has been on a bullish run against the British pound and the euro today, thanks to a series of supportive Fed speeches. The present week has been one of the best for the USD/GBP, USD/EUR exchange rates in a long time.
The US Dollar exchange rate (USD) has made amazing gains against most of its peers including the euro and the British pound having been boosted by oil inventories and Fed speeches so far this week.
Closing off this movement was the finalised GDP and personal consumption stats for the fourth quarter, both of which were expected to reprint at preliminary results.
The GDP printed at 1.4% compared to the 1.0% that had been forecast.
Pound/Dollar/Euro Exchange Rates at Close of Trading
Below are today's exchange rate trading levels for the major sterling crosses at market close. Where available, we include the suggested technical forecast for the pair.
- The British Pound to Australian Dollar rate is 1 GBP equals 1.88301 AUD. Technical forecasts see a bearish breakout.
- The Pound Sterling to Canadian Dollar exchange rate is 1 GBP equals 1.87491 CAD.
- The Pound to Swiss Franc conversion is 1.38178 GBP/CHF.
- The Pound to Chinese Yuan is 1 GBP equals 9.21118 CNY.
- The Pound to Czech Koruna is 1 GBP equals 34.23623 CZK.
- The Pound to Euro exchange rate converts at 1 GBP is 1.26583 EUR.
- The Pound to Hong Kong Dollar converts at 1 GBP is 10.96647 HKD.
- The Pound to Israeli Sheqel is 1 GBP equals 5.42026 ILS.
- The Pound to Japanese Yen rate is 1 GBP is 159.861
20 JPY.- The Pound to Mexican Peso is 24.79816 GBP/MXN.
- The Pound to Norwegian Krone is 1 GBP equals 12.00653 NOK.
- The Pound to New Zealand Dollar is 2.11467 GBP/NZD.
- The Pound to Polish Zloty is 5.39482 GBP/PLN.
- The Pound to Swedish Krona is 11.74001 GBP/SEK.
- The Pound to Singapore Dollar is 1.93965 GBP/SGD.
- The Pound to Lira converts at 1 GBP is 4.06633 TRY.
- The Pound to Dollar conversion rate is 1.41363 GBP/USD. Technical forecasts see a bearish trend with a stop loss at 1.4515
- The Pound to Rand is 21.87337 GBP/ZAR
Unlike most other peers, the US Dollar has managed to print progressive gains across the course of the current week. These have largely stemmed from Federal Reserve contributions.
Although current levels of growth in the US are ostensibly slow but steady, Fed official Dennis Lockhart opened the week off with a hawkish call for a possible interest rate hike as early as April.
This was bolstered by speeches on Tuesday from Fed members Patrick Harker and Charles Evans, both of whom supported the idea of an early rate hike to start the year off.
US Goods Orders due out Today, Current Forecasts Pessimistic
As additional support, yesterday saw the announcement of the US’s crude oil inventories result for March, which greatly exceeded forecasted figures.
Looking ahead to the remainder of the week’s US data, this afternoon will bring the US’s durable goods orders outcome for February, which was forecast to slide from a previous 4.7% to -3%.
Additionally, later on will see the announcement of the manufacturing PMI for March, which was predicted to rise marginally from 51.3 to 51.5 at the time of writing.
Pound Sterling Remains Unstable Today after Retail Sales Slump
Today has been a poor week for the Pound and from the looks of it, the UK currency is set to close the trading session today on a low note.
This is on account of the UK’s retail sales results for February, which have fallen from 2.3% to -0.2% on the month and slipped from 5.1% to 4.1% on the year.
The only remaining UK data due before Friday will be the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) retailing reported sales for March, which previously printed at 10 points.
Euro (EUR) Exchange Rate Makes Mixed Gains Today on German Import Prices and Dovish ECB Forecast
With the attacks in Brussels still fresh in the minds of investors, the Euro has nonetheless managed to advance against some of its peers today on the morning’s domestic data.
This has primarily related to Germany, where despite consumer confidence falling, the single currency appears to have been otherwise bolstered by the price of imports falling on the month and the year.
The only remaining Eurozone data out today appears to be the afternoon’s French unemployment benefit claims and total jobseekers results for February, both of which are expected to decline.
Dollar (USD) Exchange Rates Today: Is the Fed Jumping the Gun? Societe Generale Weighs In
This week has seen a number of Fed speeches released, all of which have been incredibly and more importantly, unexpectedly optimistic with regards to the likelihood of an early Fed interest rate hike occurring.
However, despite this sea change in central bank opinions, some are of the opinion that the Fed may be counting its eggs before they have hatched.
Speaking earlier, Alvin Tan, a Currency Strategist at Societe Generale, said:
’We've had some relatively hawkish comments from the Fed. They’re emphasising the message of the dots’.
Crucially, however, Tan conceded that this was been done ‘while the market still hasn’t priced that in fully’.