The Pound Sterling struck a 15-month peak versus its US counterpart ahead of Mark Carney’s speech later today. The Governor of the Bank of England is expected to strike a more hawkish tone in today’s speech due and that has prompted some analysts to reconsider previous forecasts for the Pound Sterling. On Friday, one policymaker from the BoE echoed another member’s earlier comments that a rate hike could occur over the next few months. Analysts are predicting that before December 2018 the BoE will have raised rates twice, each with a 25 bp hike, which has forecasters hiking its Sterling forecast from $1.20 to $1.35.
As reported at 11:02 am (BST) in London, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.3547, down 0.03% and off the session peak of $1.3619; the pair had earlier hit a trough of $1.3532. The EUR/GBP is up 0.26% and trading at 0.8812 Pence; the pair has ranged from a low of 0.8776 Pence to a high of 0.88304 Pence.
Pound Outlook Still Questionable
Not all analysts agree with the revised Pound forecast, however. They expect that Brexit talks are also likely to cast a shadow over any sustained rise in the Pound, and that markets have likely already priced a tightened monetary policy into the Pound. Other analysts stress the overall political uncertainty as a factor in any sustainable upward movement for the Pound as well as the upcoming Conservative Party conference.