The pound sterling remained within recent trading ranges which included, at the high end, prices above the $1.38 level for the GBP/USD. There is little of note on the economic calendar that is moving markets, so Forex traders are maintaining sentiment based largely on the vaccine program being effectively and swiftly rolled out in the UK. That is also helping the pound against the euro, as the various governments that comprise the European Union have failed to keep up their immunization plans at a similar speed. For market players and analysts alike, that suggests that the UK should be able to recover from the economic malaise which was a byproduct of the virus and the quarantine and lockdown requirements.
In London trading as of 11:07 am, the GBP/USD remains trading above the key $1.38 level and is currently priced at $1.3822, down 0.0419%; the pair has traded from a session high of $1.38604 to a low of $1.38127. The EUR/GBP was trading at 0.8771 pence, a gain of 0.1073%, off the session peak of 0.87763 pence, while the low was recorded at 0.87514 pence.
Market Focus on Data
Later today, markets will focus on US labor data. Analysts have predicted that both initial and existing claims for unemployment benefits should have shown a slight drop in the weekly readings. Initial claims as of February 5th should show a fall to 757,000, while continuing claims should show a decline to 4,490,000. Looking ahead to Friday, the potential market-moving event will be the preliminary release of 4th quarter growth data for the UK. From the latest poll, it appears that economists expect to see a decline of a quarter-on-quarter basis to 0.5% from 16%. On a month-on-month basis, however, the news is better with expectations for a rise to 1% from -2.6%. Also due out is December's data on manufacturing and industrial production, with analysts calling for a mixed bag, specifically, a fall to 0.6% and an increase to 0.5%, respectively.