Worries about the Brexit transition and the absence of progress between the EU and the UK government regarding cross-border trade have weighed on the Pound Sterling relative to the Euro. Thus far, no real progress has been made, negotiators from the EU confirmed last week. With a decided lack of clarity as regards Britain's future with the Eurozone, FX traders will look instead to the commentary from two key players at the Bank of England for clues as to upcoming monetary policy modifications. Specifically, analysts say market players will look for any signals of a possible negative interest rate environment from the BoE.
In London trade, as of 11:07 am, the EUR/GBP was trading at 0.9019 Pence, a gain of 0.0899% and off the session peak of 0.90328 Pence while the low was recorded at 0.89756 Pence. The GBP/USD was higher at $1.3116, a gain of 0.2315%; the pair has ranged from a trough of $1.30709 to a high of $1.31316.
Fed's Powell in Focus
Dollar players are similarly looking to the Federal Reserve members for a hint as to the Fed's likely move regarding policy. The Jackson Hole Symposium will begin on Thursday and the speech from the Fed's chief, Jerome Powell, will be carefully scrutinized. FX traders are concerned that the US economy may be deviating from the Fed's intended path and will look to Powell for any hints on course corrections. The EUR/USD was trading at $1.1833, up 0.3349%; the pair has ranged from $1.17711 to $1.18403 in today's session.