At the start of trading on Thursday GBP exchange rates soared as the Pound hit a 32 month high against the US Dollar as well as perform impressively against the Euro.
Economic hopes increased around the news that the vaccine rollout is still gathering pace but the gains were soon reduced as it became apparent that it is still too soon to begin thinking about lifting the lockdown. Along with this the latest PMI figures today, as the rate of contraction was higher than expected. At the end of trading yesterday, the currency finished at 1.1285 against the Euro and 1.373 against the US Dollar, according to the Foreign Exchange Market.
The Euro experienced some preliminary gains yesterday after there was a positive tone from the European Central Bank about the overall outlook for the Eurozone although it was warned that the strength of the Euro is causing problems with inflation and that placed a restriction on any of the gains it made.
Investors chose to loosen demand for the US Dollar on Thursday, placing it on the defensive. Despite this, it was able to recover against some of the worst levels it has seen after the initial jobless claims showed that unemployment levels were high last week. It’s likely that market sentiment is going to determine the direction of the currency today.