The Pound Sterling gained ground during Tuesday trade though inherent weakness is limiting additional gains. FX players are generally waiting to see what the policy makers at the Bank of Engand will have to say about the outlook for the UK economy, in light of recent disappointing data. The latest PMI for the UK's services sector was unexpectdly improved with a reading of 50 in October, against an expected 49.7 and up from September's 49.5 reading. Generally, however, with the data largely mediocre, analysts don't expect that the BoE will commit to any changes in policy at this time. Likely, they will wait to see how the Brexit and the general election drama play out.
As of 11:09 am in London, the GBP/USD pair was higher at $1.2904, a gain of 0.1786% and off the session high of $1.29091. The EUR/GBP, which has ranged from 0.86153 Pence to 0.86462 Pence in today's session was trading lower at 0.8616 Pence, down 0.1969%.
RBA Holds Rates in Check
In Australia, the Reserve Bank left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 0.75%, as analysts and economisgs had predicted, saying in a statement that they are continiong to monitor consume spending which is a key driver of the Australian economy. The AUD/USD was trading higher at $0.6918, up 0.5974%, off the session peak of $0.69287. Analysts say that the optimism over the US-China trade talks is also helping Antipodean currencies; the NZD/USD was also higher at $0.6419, up 0.402%.