The pound was up this morning across the board as most now think a rate rise in the UK in May is very much on the cards.
The pound rallied last week after Britain secured itself a Brexit transition deal with the European Union, official data showed British workers’ wages growing at their fastest rate in nearly 2-1/2 years and the BoE confirmed its hawkish tilt.
On Friday, a policy member Vlieghe indicated that the bank base rate would need to rise one or two times each year in the current tightening cycle.
Global markets were shaken last week after U.S. President Donald Trump moved to impose tariffs on Chinese goods, edging the world’s two largest economies closer to a trade war, but latest reports indicated a slightly more selective stance.
The United States asked China in a letter last week to cut the tariff on U.S. autos, buy more U.S.-made semiconductors and give U.S. firms greater access to the Chinese financial sector, the Wall Street Journal reported on today.
GBP/EUR 1.1447
GBP/USD 1.4212
GBP/AED 5.2129
GBP/AUD 1.8366
GBP/CHF 1.3434
GBP/CAD 1.8263
GBP/NZD 1.9490
EUR/USD 1.2400
GBP/ZAR 16.499