Sterling takes advantage of falling US dollar as Britain faces uncertain future

STERLING jumped against the US dollar on Friday (Sep 9), as most majors fought back against the greenback’s recent strength, capping a volatile week in which the pound hit a 35-year low, Britain saw a new prime minister, and Queen Elizabeth died.

The pound rose over 1 per cent to as much as US$1.1646, its highest level this month, and was last at US$1.622.

Sterling’s moves against the euro were much more muted. The euro was a whisker lower at 86.77 pence (S$1.22).

“Today it’s a dollar story, and we are seeing the pound trade in line with that broader theme...” said Simon Harvey, head of FX analysis at Monex Europe.

The euro jumped around 1 per cent on the dollar to a 3-week top, with the Japanese yen, the Australian dollar, Swiss franc and Canadian dollar all also posting large gains on the greenback.

The yen and euro have all recently hit multi-year lows versus the US dollar this week, and sterling fell as low as US$1.1407 on Wednesday, its lowest since 1985.

“We’re finally seeing central banks pushing back against this stronger dollar narrative, and we’re starting to see fiscal authorities responding to the causes of it especially in Europe,” said Harvey.

He pointed to a stronger fixing for the Chinese yuan early in the day, more aggressive comments from Bank of Japan officials on the yen’s recent slump, more fiscal support in Europe and Thursday’s hawkish European Central Bank meeting with an unprecedented 75 basis point hike.

Britain’s new Prime Minister Liz Truss contributed to the broader narrative of action from European governments on Thursday, announcing a plan to consumer energy bills for 2 years and funnel billions to prop up power companies.

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Investors are still waiting to see specific details of how the plan will be financed, as well as seeing how Truss and her new government will handle a very difficult situation with surging inflation and a slowing economy.

The death of Queen Elizabeth on Thursday has heightened the uncertain state of affairs in Britain, though investors said her passing would have little affect on markets. REUTERS