Despite Sterling starting on the back foot yesterday, the Great British Pound was able claw back some of the losses it had made by the close. During the morning session GBPEUR nosedived into the low 1.16’s and Cable fell below the 1.4100 handle as Sterling struggled. With a packed economic calendar, GBP was hoping for a better-than expected UK Employment Change for March early this morning. Unfortunately for the Pound the figure came in way below expectations at 113K, while being forecasted at 150K. UK Unemployment Rate came out at 4.7% as expected, and UK Average Earnings beat forecasts by 0.7%. At 13:15 Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey will be speaking, and GBP bulls will be hoping he gives a positive outlook on the UK’s recovery, and in turn will boost Sterling’s performance as he has done in recent weeks.
GBPUSD opened Monday weak and 1.4110 and quickly found itself under intense selling pressure, forcing the rate below 1.41. Sterling however showed impressive resilience and was able to reclaim it’s status in the 1.41’s, finally closing off the session at 1.4117.
GBPEUR also had a tough session on Monday. After opening at 1.1658 the pair made a move to the downside and was unable to go above 1.1650 again in the session, finding tough resistance at this level. The pair eventually closed the day at 1.1644.
EURUSD in contrast was able to make subtle gains in yesterdays session. The pair started the week at 1.2102 and finished Monday at 1.2124.
On the data front, this afternoon there is a plethora of US released. Mostly importantly US Retail Sales for May.
