The British pound today rallied higher following the release of the latest UK employment report, which had mixed results. The GBP/USD currency pair later gave up most of its gains, but rallied higher in the American session as the UK Parliament voted on a crucial Brexit bill.
The GBP/USD currency pair today rallied from a low of 1.3340 to an intra-day high of 1.3419 after the jobs report, before declining for a few hours then rallying to another high of 1.3425 after the House of Commons vote.
The currency pair rallied higher in the early European session after the UK’s Office for National Statistics released its latest labour market report. The jobs report was mixed as average weekly earnings came in at 2.5% on a quarterly and annualized rate in April missing expectations by 0.1%. However, the number of jobless claims dropped unexpectedly by 7,700 claimants as compared to the previous reading of 28,200 claimants. The number of jobs added in the 3 months to April also beat expectations by coming in at 146,000 versus the expected 110,000 new jobs.
The pair headed lower in the American session after the release of the US CPI data, by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which met expectations. The UK government’s success in overturning several amendments made to the critical EU withdrawal bill by the House of Lords through votes by the UK Parliament triggered the currency pair’s second rally.
The currency pairs future performance is likely to be affected by tomorrow’s UK CPI data and US FOMC rate decision.
The GBP/USD currency pair was trading at 1.3375 as at 18:04 GMT having dropped from a high of 1.3425. The GBP/JPY currency pair was trading at 147.66 having rallied from a low of 147.10.
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