Sterling experienced its second session of losses yesterday, falling significantly against the Euro and Dollar due to issues surrounding the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Dr June Raine, CEO of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said Under-30s in the UK should be offered an alternative Covid vaccine to the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab due to the evidence linking it to rare blood clots. BBC News reports that “the recommendation comes after a review by the UK drugs regulator found that by the end of March 79 people had suffered rare blood clots after vaccination - 19 of whom had died”. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) however argues blood clots should be listed as a very rare side effect to the vaccine. Executive Director of the EMA Emer Cooke made clear that her “committee… has confirmed that the benefits of the AstraZeneca vaccine in preventing Covid-19 overall outweigh the risks of side effects… this vaccine has proven to be highly effective - it prevents severe disease and hospitalisation, and it is saving lives".
Cable opened the day at 1.3817 but quickly came under selling pressure and slipped below the 1.38 handle. GBPUSD finally closed the day at 1.3787.
GBPEUR also made losses on Wednesday. The pair opened at 1.1635 and fell all the way to 1.1585
EURUSD was once again able to capitalise and close at 1.19 after opening at 1.1874.
On the data front, released at 13:30 is the US weekly labour report. Continuing Jobless Claims are expected at 3650K, while Initial Jobless Claims are forecasted at 680K. At 17:00 Fed Chair Jerome Powell will also be speaking.
