Following a brief spike on Thursday induced by the latest Bank of England policy meeting, Sterling struggled on Friday against the Euro and US Dollar. The Pound dropped from 1.37 to 1.36 against the Greenback on the day and made a subtle loss against the Euro. Despite briefly reaching the 1.37 handle overnight in the Asian session, many analysts argue that “the rise in the UK’s virus-led death tolls and manpower shortages due to the Brexit weigh” heavy on the British Pound. As of 9AM Sunday, The Department of Health printed their latest figures showing that “a further 58 people have died within 28 days of testing positive for COVID-19”.
In order to battle the latest fuel shortage experienced in the UK, the government is reported to be suspending “competition law to allow oil firms to target fuel deliveries at petrol stations” following the recent manic surge of panic buying. Officials working to solve the problem have claimed that this “move would make it easier for companies to share information and prioritise parts of the country most at need”. Boris Johnson is also said to be considering “deploying the Army to deliver fuel”.
After an impressive show on Thursday, Cable disappointed as it dropped against the US Dollar to end the week. GBPUSD started the session 1.3718 but quickly came under mounting pressures which forced the pair lower. Cable finally finished the session at 1.3680.
GBPEUR also made a minor loss on Friday to close the week. The pair started the day at 1.1690 but finished at 1.1678.
EURUSD similarly suffered a loss in Friday’s session. The pair opened and 1.1734 and closed at 1.1713.
Looking ahead to today, the US Dollar Index (DXY) has broken its “three-week uptrend with a 0.05% intraday loss”, causing the Greenback to weaken. EURUSD has made advances amid the Dollar weakness, hovering just above the 1.17 handle this morning. According to preliminary results, Germany’s centre-left Social Democrats have narrowly beaten the party of outgoing Chancellor Angela Merkel in federal elections.