- Pound (GBP) rises as almost all covid restrictions to be lifted
- England’s tournament run failed to boost footfall
- Euro (EUR) under pressure after dovish ECB
- German & French CPI in focus
The Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate is edging higher after a flat start to the week . The pair traded in a relatively tight range on Monday, settling flat at €1.1700 after reaching €1.1715 earlier in the session. At 05:45 UTC, GBP/EUR trades +0.09% at €1.1711.
The Pound is on the rise after Prime Minister Boris Johnson sais that England will press ahead with lifting covid restrictions next week. The British Prime Minister urged people to behavior cautiously when nearly all remaining covid restrictions are removed next Monday. However, Boris Johnson warned that the pandemic is by no means over.
The news comes as covid cases continue to rise and could reach 100,000 new infections a day by the summer. On Monday the UK recorded 34,471 new covid cases.
Separately, data revealed that England’s run through the Euro 2020 tournament failed to boost the country’s retailers. In fact, weekly visitor numbers rose by a disappointing 0.6%. Footfall to the high street still remains down 26% from before the pandemic.
Looking ahead there is no high impacting UK data due to be released today. Inflation data due on Wednesday could add pressure to Sterling. Analysts expect inflation to rise at a slower 0.2% month on month in June, down from 0.6% in May.
The Euro traded quietly in the previous session after European Central Bank President advised that the ECB would be adjusting monetary policy guidance in the coming meeting on 22nd July, a meeting which had previously been expected to be an uneventful evening. The announcement from Christine Lagarde comes after the central bank, last week, raised its inflation target to 2% and said that it may overshoot the target.
Inflation will remain in focus with the release of German consumer price inflation for June. Analysts expect inflation to rise 0.4% month on month in June. On a yearly basis, 2.3% CPI is forecast.
Meanwhile, French CPI is expected to rise 1.9% year on year.
