The Pound Sterling earlier struck a 10-day trough as FX traders wait to see if the British Prime Minister is finally able to get the support he needs to push through a bill forcing a general election in early December. Though Boris Johnson had failed in his previous bid to gain a 2/3rds majority, he only needs a majority on this version of the bill. Currency analysts say that they believe he will get this bill through Parliament which, they also say, should help to give a lift to Sterling in the near term, as well as provide some improvement to sentiment in the longer term.
At 11:12 am in London, the GBP/USD was trading lower at $1.2818, down 0.2917% and close to the $1.28 level it struck earlier this month. The EUR/GBP was higher at 0.8640 Pence, a gain of 0.1542%; the pair has ranged from a low of 0.86164 Pence to a peak of 0.86514 Pence.
Sentiment Shifts for Aussie Dollar
Hopes that trade tensions between the United States and China have helped to improve the outlook for higher risk currencies, especially the Australian Dollar, which has strengthened against the safe haven Swiss Franc. Currency strategists say that the AUD/CHF pair is widely viewed as a barometer for risk; the pair is trading at 0.6812 Swiss Francs, up 0.17% on the day, and more than 1.3% for this month, so far. Against the greenback, the Aussie is also higher, with the AUD/USD pair trading at 40.6846, up 0.1141%