Following an extremely positive week last week, GBP affirmed its status as the best performing G10 major currency of 2021 after it was able to gain over 1% of ground against the Euro and Dollar in the week. Later this evening, Boris Johnson will unveil his finalised road map of easing COVID-19 restrictions to the nation at a live news conference at 19:00. The road map will outline four steps for easing restrictions, but before proceeding to each next step, the government will examine the data to assess the impact of previous changes. Economist’s have noted that the main driver of the Pounds recent advances has been the UK’s rapid vaccination programme. However, with a lift of restrictions pending, some researchers fear that Sterling “could lose its comparative edge should the UK exit lockdown too early”.
GBPUSD started Friday’s session trading at 1.3978 and was quick to test the 1.40 handle. After surpassing that mark, cable went on to close the week at 1.4023.
GBPEUR was also able to gain some upside on Friday, opening at 1.1534 and closing at 1.1555.
EURUSD improved on where it started on Friday. Opening at 1.2118, the pair closed Friday at 1.2136.
On the data front, a rather light schedule to kick off the week. At 09:00 we had Februarys Ifo Business Climate from Germany, coming out better than expected at 92.4, as opposed to the forecasted 90.3. Then in the afternoon we have the Chicago Fed National Activity Index from the US, followed by the CB Leading Index report (MoM) and a speech from Fed member Michelle Bowman. From Europe, we have ECB President Christine Lagarde speaking at 14:30.
