The British pound today remained depressed against the US dollar despite the release of the mostly positive UK labour market report for May. The increase in the 10-year US Treasury yields to levels above the crucial 3.00% level exerted downward pressure on the cable restricting any positive moves by the currency pair.
The GBP/USD currency pair today lost 50 points to decline from a high of 1.3572 to a low of 1.3522, but later rallied slightly higher.
The currency pair has been stuck within a range following a significant slowdown in the UK economy compounded by the fact that the Bank of England did not raise rates earlier this month. The currency pair was on a downward trend from the mid-Asian session, but the release of the UK labor market report by the Office for National Statistics triggered a brief rally in the currency pair. The average weekly earnings including bonuses met expectations by coming in at 2.6%, while the ILO unemployment rate was also in line with consensus estimates at 4.2%. The country added 197,000 new jobs over the same period.
The rally in the US 10-year Treasury yields to a high of 3.02% also contributed to the currency pair’s decline. The high number of jobless claims, which came in at 31,200 versus the expected 7,800, also contributed to the decline.
The currency pair’s short-term performance is likely to be influenced by the release of the US advance retail sales report later today.
The GBP/USD currency pair was trading at 1.3538 as at 11:02 GMT having dropped from a high of 1.3572. The GBP/JPY currency was trading at 148.78 having rallied from a low of 148.56.
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