- Pound (GBP) rises from a 2-week low
- The BoE Chief economist warned of cutting rates too quickly
- Euro (EUR) falls on bets of aggressive ECB rate cuts
- Inflation is below the ECB’s 2% target
The Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate is rising on Friday after yesterday’s losses. The pair fell -0.96% on Thursday, settling at €1.1896 and trading in a range between €1.1855 and €1.2017. Today, at 16:15, GBP/EUR trades +0.46% at €1.1950. After three weeks of gains, the pair is set to fall 0.16% this week.
The pound rebounded on Friday after steep losses in the previous session, bested by comments from Bank of England chief economist Huw Pill. QPL warns that the Bank of England should reduce interest rates only gradually amid concerns of lingering inflation risks.
His comments come a day after Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said that the Bank of England could move more aggressively to cut interest rates if inflation continued to ease.
The Bank of England is expected to cut interest rates by a further 25 basis points when it meets again in November, with another rate cut expected in December.
The pound has been the top performer against major pairs this year on expectations that the Bank of England would cut interest rates more slowly than the Federal Reserve and the ECB. Bailey’s comments yesterday challenged this view sending sterling plummeting.
The euro is trading under pressure as investors increasingly expect an aggressive path for interest rate cuts by the European Central Bank.
The euro is under pressure against the pound and the US dollar as traders battle the European Central Bank’s increasingly aggressive path of interest rate reductions.
The market is currently pricing in a 90% probability that the ECB will cut borrowing rates in October. Inflation slowed to below the ECB’s 2% target for the first time in three years, and business sentiment deteriorated, prompting several central bank officials to support another rate cut.
In other news, the European Union voted to impose tariffs as high as 45% on electric vehicles from China, fueling concerns but border trade conflict with Beijing. China has already found to protect its companies. The duties are expected to last for five years on the decision came after an investigation found that China unfairly subsidised its industry.