The Pound Sterling was relatively flat during the London trading session and is being driven primarily by global risk appetite. Concerns that Britain is lagging relative to its counterparts in the EU as regards its lockdown provisions in the Coronavirus fight also are weighing on sentiment. Britain is second only to Italy in the number of deaths related to Covid-19, but as of the figures published yesterday, it is clear that it is only a matter of days before they hit the unfortunate 26,000 deaths benchmark. One healthcare official said that the data would not be released for a while and, given that, it was too soon to consider easing current restrictions which are now in place through May 7th. Most British businesses have been shuttered for several weeks, leading to a major loss in economic activity.
As of 11:21 am in London, the EUR/GBP was trading at 0.8695 Pence, a loss of 0.2157% and off the session trough of 0.86868 Pence. The GBP/USD was higher at $1.2511, a gain of 0.2934%; the pair has ranged from a low of $1.24281 to a high of $1.25133 in today's session.
US Labor Data Eyed
Market focus will turn to the US later today for the release of US labor data, including claims for unemployment benefits. It is expected that initial jobless claims will have fallen for the week ending April 24th to 3.5 million, off from the previous reading of 4.425 million. Continuing claims is likely to have surged to 19.2 million, up from last week's nearly 16 million tally. Prior to that release, the European Central Bank will be announcing their policy decision; analysts don't believe that the ECB will make any major changes, however. That decision will be followed by the statement from the head of the ECB, Christine Lagarde, and that will likely provide more clues as to the possible direction of interest rates and stimulus measures to bolster the EU economy. The EUR/USD was trading at $1.0878, a gain of 0.0469%.