Forex Weekly Round Up 15/2/16 – 19/2/16
Sterling fell around 0.5% against the dollar on Tuesday after Bank of England policymaker Ian McCafferty said inflationary pressures had fallen, although he still expected the next interest rate move to be up.
Inflation edged up to its highest rate for a year last month as rises in the price of alcohol and clothing pushed up the cost of living. The consumer prices index rose to 0.3% in January from 0.2% in December. Alcohol and tobacco rose by 1.3% compared with January 2015, when there were heavy discounts on beer.
The jobless rate in the UK held steady at a 10 year low in December, while the average earnings index increased in line with expectations. The Office for National Statistics said that the rate of unemployment held at 5.1% in the three months to December, it was expected to fall to 5.0%.
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Here are the exchange rates taken at 12:50 today. Please note that all conversions are based on interbank rates without any spreads and should be used only as a guide. For live ‘spot’ and ‘forward’ prices please feel free to drop us a line.
GBP/USD 1.4274
GBP/EUR 1.2844
USD/EUR 0.8998