On Wednesday, the Pound managed to close the gap with the Euro as well as the US Dollar.
This boost came after Next announced that it had achieved impressive sales figures for the second quarter of 2021 while public-sector borrowing also dropped more than expected. However, these gains were capped given the news that more of the workforce is self-isolating following the ‘ping-demic’ that the UK is currently facing. So, the currency finished at 1.1329 against the Euro and 1.3715 against the US Dollar according to the Foreign Exchange Market.
The Euro lost ground against many of the peers yesterday as investors took a cautious approach ahead of the European Central Bank’s interest rate decision due later today. Investors expect the ECB to take a dovish approach. However, the Euro was held back as a result of the negative correlation with the US Dollar.
During yesterday’s session, the US Dollar slipped as an improvement in risk appetite pushed demand for the safe-haven currency down. As many company reports were better-than-expected, European stock markets soared and this new optimism resulted in investors turning their attention to assets that carried more risk.