16/04/2024 – Exchange Rates
- April 16, 2024
GBP/ USD hit a 5-month low in this morning session. USD continue to outperform its peers after recent retail sales shows ongoing strength in the American economy. No halt on spending from consumers and households even after inflation levels at the end of last week did not reduce as planned has led to USD remaining its momentum.
Recent economic figures has abolished a rate cut in June and even if a rate cut will be required later, the current US economy shows no signs nor need of lowering borrowing cost just yet.
While US economy once again proves strength, did we see an early sign for Bank of England that borrowing costs will have to come down? Employment change showed negative figures for February, with a decrease of 156k jobs.
This lead to that unemployment rates rose above 4% to 4.2% its highest level since June 2023 and for a second month in a row we are seeing headwinds for the UK labour market. This is followed up by important inflation and core inflation reading for the UK tomorrow, with recent spikes in fuel prices – we will watch closely if there is an inverse correlation between the two metrics.
GBP/EUR 1.1702 GBP/USD 1.2435 GBP/AED 4.5710
GBP/AUD 1.9382 GBP/CHF 1.1351 GBP/CAD 1.7157
GBP/NZD 2.1027 EUR/USD 1.0616 GBP/ZAR 23.582