- Pound (GBP) is rising for a fourth day
- BoE governor noted tariffs on the UK are still high
- Euro (EUR) falls amid a lack of fresh catalysts
- ECB likely to cut rates in June
The Pound-Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate is rising for a fourth straight session. The pair rose 0.28% in the previous session, settling on Thursday at €1.1792. It traded between €1.1731 and €1.1762. At 16:30, GBP/EUR trades 0.16% at €1.1816. The pair is on track to rise 0.56% this week, marking the fourth straight weekly rise.
The pound pushed higher again on Friday as investors continued to consider the US-UK trade deal and its potential impact on the UK economy.
Yesterday, Trump announced the UK trade deal framework, under which the US will continue to impose 10% tariffs on imports of most British goods but will impose higher tariffs on imports of British cars, steel, and aluminium.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey noted that the trade deal was a good thing, but that tariffs on British goods exported to the US were still higher than they were before last month.
Bailey added that while goods exports do not form a big part of the UK economy as they do for some other countries, Britain is more exposed than money to the health of the global economy.
There was no major UK economic data today, so attention is turning to next week, when UK GDP and jobs data will be released.
The euro has fallen across the week amid a lack of progress in Europe-U.S. trade talks and following mixed data across the week.
Today, the eurozone economic calendar was quiet; however, yesterday, data showed that German industrial production jumped 3% higher in March. Meanwhile, the German trade balance showed that German exports rose by more than expected in March as US demand increased in anticipation of US tariffs. Meanwhile, imports were down 1.4%.
Meanwhile, European Central Bank policymakers reiterated that inflation is expected to ease back to the target 2% level.