The British pound fell sharply earlier this week after a BoE policy maker said they ‘would vote for a rate cut unless economic data improved significantly’. With the weaker inflation data on Wednesday the market is pricing in a 57% chance of a 25-basis point cut to rates in January.
On Thursday sterling edged higher, hitting its highest level of the week (1.3082). Traders put a hold on the ‘pricing in’ of the Bank of England cutting interest rates later this month and switched their attention to the comments of a Downing Street’s spokesman confirming that the Brexit transition period would not be extended further.
Yesterday the US dollar gained after multiple data releases that showed signs of a positive U.S. economy, a rebound from earlier weakness due to the preliminary deal between the United States and China to de-escalate their trade war.