Pound Inches Down vs. The Dollar

On Thursday, the British pound fell against the dollar. The euro as a bleak economic outlook and political concerns weighed on the currency; meantime, the market focused on the European Central Bank’s upcoming statement.

The pound was down 0.1 percent against the dollar at $1.2524 by 0842; it gained ground from earlier in the day when it was down roughly 0.32 percent at $1.2495.

The British pound fell 0.12% to 85.535 pence against a stronger euro.

Before the ECB’s decision, Simon Harvey, head of FX Analysis at Monex Europe, said he’ll focus on the euro/sterling cross today.

The day’s primary focus is the European Central Bank’s meeting and policy announcement. The bank will likely declare that it will terminate its long-running asset purchase program at the end of June and promise a rate hike in July as it fights record-high inflation. continue reading

Prime Minister Boris Johnson won a confidence vote earlier this week, although not as comfortably as he had planned.

Concerns about increasing inflation, a widening current account deficit, and Ankara’s policy response pushed the Turkish lira past 17.2 versus the dollar on Thursday; plunging for a fourth straight session towards December’s record lows.

At 0612 GMT, the lira was trading at 17.20005, down from Wednesday’s close of 17.17. After a 44 percent drop last year, it has lost more than 23% of its value versus the US dollar this year. The lira crisis in December was sparked by a series of unconventional interest rate decreases in line with President Tayyip Erdogan’s economic plan; prioritizing production, exports, growth, and cheap borrowing costs. After a cabinet meeting on Monday, Erdogan sparked the current round of weakness; he declared that Turkey would not raise interest rates; however, it will continue to decrease them in the face of rising living costs.