The Pound Sterling steadied during London trade on Wednesday after touching a 3-week peak on Tuesday against its main rivals, the greenback and Euro. Later today, the Finance Minister will be addressing the government's plans to help a specific set of unemployed citizens, specifically those between 16 and 24 years old, by the creation of a jobs placement program intended to endure for six months at a cost of some £2 billion. At the same time, Rishi Sunak is likely to introduce a plan to lower taxes on property purchases as a means of providing a boost to the housing market. The last step, an allocation of £3 billion in support of a program to make homes more energy-efficient, could provide at least 100,000 jobs. Currency strategists say that FX traders will be most interested in the tax implications on property purchases as it is a reform intended to encourage growth.
As of 10:56 am in London, the EUR/GBP was trading at 0.9002 Pence, up 0.2171% and off the earlier trough of 0.89744 Pence. The GBP/USD was lower at $1.2525, down 0.1952%; the pair has ranged from a low of $1.25079 to a high of $1.25690.
Dollar Pressure Likely to Mount
In the US, the Dollar was under some pressure after a sentiment shift on news that there is a clear trending resurgence of the Coronavirus in the United States. Officials from the Federal Reserve Bank recently addressed the issue of the likely impact of the pandemic on the US economy; the great concern is that the potential growth from programs meant to stimulate the economy will falter once those programs have run out of funding. For some traders, the US Dollar's current status as a safe haven currency could come into question if the uncertainty continues to grow. The EUR/USD is trading higher at $1.1274, a gain of 0.0071%, while the USD/JPY is up at 107.5480 Yen, a gain of 0.01%.