- Pound (GBP) rebounds on Friday
- The BoE vote was more dovish than expected
- Euro (EUR) falls despite encouraging German trade data
- Trade tariff worries remain
The Pound Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate rose on Friday, recovering losses from Thursday. The pair fell 0.41% in the previous session, settling on Thursday at €1.1973. It traded in a range between €1.1933 and €1.2030. GBP/EUR settled 0.35% higher on Friday at €1.2014. The pair rose 0.46% across the week.
The pound edged higher on Friday, recovering from losses in the previous session after the Bank of England cut interest rates for a third time. The central bank reduced rates by 25 basis points as expected, but the policymaker vote was more dovish than expected, with two members voting to cut by 50 basis points. The surprise vote will mean that more attention than usual will be on policymakers’ speeches in the coming weeks.
On Friday, the pound recovered some of its losses after data showed that house prices rose to a record high. According to Halifax data, UK house prices rose by 0.7% in January, reversing a decline of -0.2% in December. Annual growth was 3%, down from 3.4% in December. The lender said that demand for mortgages remained strong.
The EUR fell on Friday despite by a rise in Germany’s trade surplus. The eurozone’s largest economy’s trade surplus rose to €20.7 billion in December, up from €19.2 billion in November and down from €21.1 billion in December 2023. Delving deeper into the report, exports rose 2.9% from the previous month to €131.7 billion, while imports grew 2.1% monthly.
The EUR remains pressurized amid ongoing concerns regarding Trump’s trade tariffs. Yesterday, Trump warned that more trade tariffs are coming, and the European Union, given its large trade surplus with the US, is in the firing line.
Trade tariffs on the eurozone economy could harm growth, which has already stalled. Eurozone GDP data is due next week and is expected to show growth of 0% in Q4.