The Pound moved very little during trading on Monday while the high Pound to US Dollar rate seen last week also moved further away. Boris Johnson announced that some lockdown measures would be relaxed before mid-February and that helped to ease concerns around Brexit trade tensions. Along with this, the currency is faced with additional pressure this morning after the news of an increase in unemployment in the UK. At the end of trading yesterday, the Pound finished at 1.1263 against the Euro and 1.2676 against the US Dollar according to the Foreign Exchange Market.
The German IFO business climate index was lower than expected and this placed pressure on the Euro on Monday. The levels were the worst seen in six months after businesses have grappled with increasing lockdown measures. However, vaccination concerns across Europe could cause problems for the single currency today.
USD exchange rates improved during the European trading session yesterday following indications that the huge stimulus package put forward by President Biden was faced with headwinds. The size of the package was a concern, forcing investors to take advantage of the safe-haven currency. Investors will monitor the situation today and that is likely to have an impact on the currency.