- Pound (GBP) is holding steady after rising yesterday
- BoE chatter in focus
- Euro (EUR) is steady amid a quiet economic calendar
- Eurozone inflation is due to confirm 2.4%
The Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate is holding steady after gains yesterday. The pair rose +0.14% in the previous session, settling on Wednesday at €1.1653 and trading in a range between €1.1628 to €1.1660. At 19:00 UTC, GBP/EUR trades +0.02% at €1.1658.
The pound was unchanged on Thursday amid a quiet UK economic calendar as investors await the next catalyst.
UK economic data has been in relatively short supply this week, with just UK jobs figures on Tuesday indicating that unemployment was rising, but wage growth remains sticky.
Following the data, the Bank of England’s chief economist said he considered that the central bank was still on track to start cutting rates over the summer.
Tomorrow, attention will be on Bank of England policymaker Megan Green. She is a known hawk on the Monetary Policy Committee but voted to leave rates unchanged in the latest meeting. She could offer further clues about the timing of rate cuts.
The next key piece of data for the UK will be inflation figures, which will be released next week. These could provide further clues about whether the Bank of England is likely to cut interest rates in June or wait until August.
The euro is holding steady against the pound and is falling against the stronger U.S. dollar amid a quiet economic calendar and as investors await eurozone inflation figures tomorrow.
Inflation data is the second reading for April and is expected to confirm the preliminary reading of 2.4% year over year. The second reading is often less market-moving than the preliminary figures.
The data comes as the European Central Bank is on track to cut interest rates at the June meeting, barring any surprises. Meanwhile, the eurozone economy is showing signs of recovery. GDP data earlier in the week showed the economy has recovered from stagnation, rising by a stronger-than-expected 0.4%.