- Pound (GBP) falls for a fourth straight day
- BoE’s Silvana Tenreyo to speak
- Euro (EUR) rises after hawkish comments from ECB’s Wunsch
- Christine Lagarde to speak later
The Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate is falling for a fourth straight day. The pair fell 0.16% in the previous session, settling on Thursday at €1.1336, after trading in a range between €1.1312 – €1.1377. At 05:45 UTC, GBP/EUR trades -0.7% at €1.1328. The pair is set to fall 0.5% across the week, after two weeks of gains.
The euro is pushing higher across the board as it proves to be a main beneficiary of the weaker USD. The euro is finding support from more hawkish commentary from European Central Bank members. Today, Belgian policymaker Pierre Wunsch said that more rate hikes are needed and faster balance sheet cuts. His comments follow on from several other ECB members this week, who have talked up the need for further rate hikes. ECB President Christine Lagarde is due to speak later.
Attention is now turning towards Spanish and French inflation data is due, along with German wholesale inflation data, which is expected to show that wholesale prices fell 1.1% month on month in March. On an annual basis, wholesale prices are set to cool to 6.2% from 8.9% in February.
The data comes after German consumer price index data confirmed easing in March to 7.4% on an annual basis thanks to falling energy costs. This was down from 8.7% recorded in the first two months of the year.
The pound is edging lower against the euro after data yesterday showed that the UK economy flatlined in February at 0%, after growing 0.4% month on month in January. Expectations had been for growth of 0.1% in February.
After the IMF projected that the UK would be the worst-performing G20 economy in 2023.
There is no high-impacting UK economic data due to be released today. Attention will be on Bank of England Silvana Tenreyo, who is due to speak. Tenreyo is a known dove at the central bank. However, she is also due to step down and will be replaced by hawk Megan Greene in July.
