9th August - Weekly FX Update

GBP/EUR: Monday 9:00 UTC 9th August: 1.17893

The GBPEUR rate was higher last week following on from the latest Bank of England rate meeting on Thursday. The BoE once again decided to hold rates at 0.1%, however they raised their inflation target to 4% (1% higher than previous forecasts) and spoke about "modest tightening" of the current bond-buying programme. This sent the Pound higher and it traded against the Euro at it's highest level in four months on Thursday. Virus cases are still looming in the UK, and after bottoming out at around 20,000 infections, has now bounced back and is creeping up slightly. This could have derailed the Pound, had new European cases not exceeded 20,000+ in multiple countries.

GBP/USD: Monday 9:00 UTC 9th August: 1.38603

The Dollar edged higher on Friday after influential US employment figures. Job growth accelerated rapidly, with unemployment falling which indicates the economy has strong momentum heading into the second half of the year. The unemployment rate dropped to 5.4% in July, down 0.5% from the previous month, an extra 0.3% lower than forecasted. The UK are still on its successful pathway to economic reopening, with week on week cases on a clear downtrend and macroeconomic data looking optimistic, there is certainly room for the Pound to move higher should the data continue to be positive.