The Pound Sterling edged higher against the US Dollar in London trading but was lower against its European rival as Britain awaited announcements regarding the furlough plans and exactly how the UK’s plans will be implemented in an effort to ease lockdown measures. Analysts say that until the UK government offers some concrete and cohesive strategies there will continue to be confusion. As it stands, there is no clarity as to which sector is considered essential or when to begin resuming work; moreover, there is no plan for keeping workers safe once they have arrived at their respective workplaces.
As of 11:10 am in London, the GBP/USD was trading lower at $1.2332, a loss of 0.0259% and off the earlier peak of $1.23516. The EUR/GBP was higher at 0.87780 Pence, up 0.0913%; the pair's trading range is from 0.87514 Pence to 0.87936 Pence in today's session. The GBP/JPY was lower at 132.5790 Yen, down 0.1085%.
Chinese Inflation Falls
In China, the personal inflation rate or CPI fell in April to 3.3% on a year-over-year basis; analysts had predicted the number would fall to 3.7% from the previous reading of 4.3%. Producer prices also missed analysts' forecasts with a fall to -3.1% against an expected -2.6%, off the previous reading of -1.5%. The impact of the news on the AUD/USD and NZD/USD was minimal; the AUD/USD was trading higher at $0.651, up 0.2805% while the NZD/USD was higher at $0.6093, a gain of 0.2731%. Any gains on antipodean currencies could be limited given the increasing concerns that a second wave of Coronavirus infections could hit China which began to ease quarantine measures, coupled with worries that the US-Sino trade rift could be flaring up again.