Sterling strong against US dollar, weak against the euro

Sterling has seen mixed fortunes this week, with events further afield impacting sterling. In particular we saw sterling gain on the US dollar but fall versus the euro. The main event for the UK’s currency this week was the minutes from the latest Bank of England meeting, which highlighted that recent sterling strength could in turn be detrimental to country’s exports. As expected, all members of the Monetary Policy Committee voted to maintain the current levels of interest rates and quantitative easing. However, the inflation report suggested unemployment levels would be lower than expected in the second half of 2013, implying that monetary policy could be tightened sooner than originally thought. Today, the preliminary UK quarterly growth figure for the third quarter will be the driving force for sterling with current market estimates forecasting growth of 0.8%. Any significant variation from this figure will have a major impact so please get in touch with your trader for the latest prices from the market.