Sterling Rises 1% vs USD; Euro Awaits ECB Decision

Here’s this week’s overview of the Euro and Sterling:

Sterling

Sterling traded at 1.29 against USD last week, a 1% gain. Growth surprised to the upside with a 0.4% expansion in May, after flatlining in April.

Improved growth amid the ongoing political regime shift in the UK were seen as drivers of likely strength for the British currency.

At the same time, falling price pressures in the US knocked the dollar’s valuation, leading to a retreat of the greenback against major peers across the board, including the pound.

Euro

The Euro gained 0.5% against the dollar last week to trade at 1.087 on Friday.

There were no major data releases of note out of the Eurozone last week, with gains being made due to a softer dollar.

All eyes this week are on the ECB interest rate decision meeting on Thursday. Market expectations are that rates will remain unchanged, and two rate cuts are currently favoured for this year.