The unveiling of the next budget by the the UK's finance minister on Wednesday helped to keep the pound propped up against its two key rivals, the greenback and euro. Rishi Sunak's annual budget, which was well received for its generosity and expansive spending plans, could support the government's efforts toward a recovery in the wake of the pandemic. Minister Sunak reported that his team is forecasting a return to a pre-pandemic sized economy in the middle of next year; earlier forecasts had predicted that the economy would not turn around until the end of 2022. The government's continued efforts to vaccinate the populace and reduce restrictions is also providing support for the currency.
In London trading as of 11:00 am, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.3945, down 0.545%, and off the session peak of $1.39692; the low was recorded at $1.39156. The EUR/GBP was lower at 0.8639 pence, a loss of 0.0844%; the pair has ranged from 0.86281 pence to 0.86580 pence. The GBP/JPY was higher at 149.6120 yen, a gain of 0.2258%.
Looking Ahead to US Labor News
A look ahead to the economic calendar points to the US with labor data being released later today and tomorrow. The weekly unemployment claims report is expected to show a slight rise in new claims to 750,000 from 730,000, while continuing claims are predicted to decline to 4.3 million from 4.419 million. Tomorrow, the non-farms payroll report will be issued for the month of March. Analysts recently polled are predicting that 182,000 new private sector jobs will have been added, a much improved figure from February's 49,000 new jobs.