The Pound and Euro marked gains against the Dollar once again on Thursday. Despite the rising cases of Omicron and hospitalizations in the UK, the British “government’s active response and medical studies” have tamed investors “fears of the virus” and have kept Sterling “buyers hopeful”. The UK recorded a further 183,037 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, taking the total number of infections reported in the last seven days to 900,000 – a 41.4% increase on the week before. The latest data also showed that 57 people have died within 28 days of a positive COVID-19 test on Wednesday and 516 deaths over the last week - 34.1% lower than the previous seven days. In response to the spike in infections, the government have ordered eight temporary “surge hubs” to be opened and building to start this week. The new “Nightingale” units will each look to house around 100 patients and will only be set up in England.
Cable enjoyed another session of gains on Thursday as a struggling Dollar allowed for more upside for the pair. GBPUSD started the day at 1.3456 and closed close to 1.35, ending the day at 1.3498.
GBPEUR also improved on Thursday. The pair opened at 1.1906 and closed at 1.1919.
After reclaiming the 1.13 handle EURUSD yesterday was able to make subtle gains in the session. The pair opened at 1.1301 and closed at 1.1324.
The US released its weekly Labour report yesterday and the final readings came in better than expected. Continuing Jobless Claims was forecasted at 1868K and beat expectations by printing a final figure of 1716K. Initial Jobless Claims also beat its forecast of 208K, printing an actual figure of 198K. Despite these upbeat readings the Dollar was unable to capitalize on this data in the session.
There are no data releases scheduled now until 2022.
