The British Pound Sterling, on Wednesday, December 14, surged with the GBP to EUR exchange rate rising to above 1.19.
GBP is struggling to advance beyond the 1.1980 level it appears owing to the solid selling interest in the run up to 1.20, Pound Sterling Live reports.
Those with impending Euro payments would therefore do well to lock-in some of the gains now while keeping open the option to transact at higher rates should they become available.
The GBP to USD exchange rate trades above 1.26 thanks to a stellar day of gains thanks largely to the US Dollar falling back ahead of a much-anticipated US Federal Reserve meeting mid-week.
For Sterling, any move away from a so-called hard-Brexit is taken as positive as the severity of Brexit remains a key consideration for foreign exchange traders.
“GBP is sensitive to the distinction between hard vs soft Brexit which boils down to the degree of single market access, including transitional trade arrangements.
This should become clearer through the year, albeit there is little information to handicap the odds of a more or less disruptive economic outcome,” says a note on Sterling’s outlook for 2017 from JP Morgan.
Stronger-than-forecast UK November inflation figures have helped to keep the Pound bid against most currencies thus far today.
GBP/USD actually turned higher on Tuesday as the dollar took a back seat ahead of the FOMC statement and press conference on Wednesday.
Sterling, which has seen a gradual move higher since the flash crash on Oct. 7, is still one of the worst performers in the past six months, a period that encompasses the slide after Britain’s shock decision to leave the European Union.
The pound was up 0.3 percent to $1.2715 as of 12:57 p.m. in London, extending the 0.9 percent climb on Monday. It strengthened 0.5 percent to 83.44 pence per euro.
