The British pound is higher against the euro on Thursday.
The latest ECB meeting saw the euro sold against the pound after the ECB eased the lending rate on one of its key lending programs.
The pound was a top FX riser on Thursday, seemingly on the cusp of a breakout as other currencies were weakened by their respective central banks.
Pound to Euro rate was higher by 56 pips (+0.48%) to 1.1624 as of 3pm GMT.
GBP/EUR had risen early on but fell short of the 1.15 level, it took a drop to 1.145 before the next attempt higher topped 1.15. Yesterday the exchange rate fell -0.15% and week-to-date it is +0.89%.
GBP: First week of trade talks draw to a close
With the first week of post-Brexit trade talks almost over, it seems that the relative strength in the pound in the face of various doubts over the length of the transition period has encourage some late-week buyers.
The UK economic calendar was sparse so the moves were largely sentiment driven, as based on the moves in other currencies amid the interest rate decisions from the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank.
EUR: ECB lowers interest rates in TLTROs
The European Central Bank (ECB) eased the conditions on its TLTRO (Targeted longer-term refinancing operations) by lowering the rate of inerest that banks can borrow from the program by 50 basis points to encourage them to lend more to those persons and businesses most in need.
Much like the Federal Reserve, the European central bank has stated that it is fully ready to expand its bond-buying and other easing program as required to meet the needs of the Eurozone economy.
One of the key statements from today’s meeting was that the “ECB is fully prepared to increase size of PEPP and adjust its composition, by as much as necessary and for as long as needed.” As a reminder the PEPP stands for Pandemic Emergency Purchase Program and refers to the extra bonds being purchased by the ECB that will total 750 billion euros.
