Against the US Dollar, the Pound Sterling remained steady and trading near to the $1.26 level, moving off the 1-month peak on signs that the sticking points to the Brexit negotiations might soon be resolved through compromise. The US Dollar continues to slide on speculation and concern for the potential fallout from the spreading protest riots in the US, a result of heightened racial tensions. The possibility of increased government stimulus as global economies attempt to recover from the Coronavirus pandemic are also driving some FX traders toward higher risk currencies.
As of 11:08 am in London, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.2592, a gain of 0.3371% and sliding from the earlier peak of $1.26123. The EUR/GBP was higher at 0.8906 Pence, up 0.0922%; the pair has ranged from 0.88779 Pence to 0.89221 Pence in today's session. The GBP/JPY was higher at 136.997 Yen, up 0.4701% and moving off the session low of 136.242 Yen.
Data Shows Improvement
PMI data from China showed the Caixin Services PMI for May improving to 55, above the 50.3 reading that had been predicted and April's 44.4. In Australia, the GDP reading for the first quarter was largely as expected at -0.3%, down from the previous reading of 0.5%. The AUD/USD was trading at higher at $0.6890, up 0.0508%. Looking at data from the Eurozone, Germany's labor data was slightly worse than expected with the unemployment rate at 6.3% against a forecast of 6.2%. In the EU, the unemployment rate was better than anticipated at 7.3%; analysts had predicted a rise to 8.2% from the previous month's reading of 7.1% (which was lowered from 7.4%).