GBP/USD Performance Chart as at 7:00 p.m. Singapore time, 28/04/11

Forex Focus is brought to you by IG Markets - Forex Trading

 

 

HISTORICAL DETAILS 

% Change

1 Wk 0.81%

1 Month 4.03%

3 Months 5.03%

6 Months 4.46%

1 Year 9.12%

 

52 WEEK

High 1.6747

Low 1.4231

 

BLOOMBERG MEDIAN FORECASTS

Q2 2011 1.61

Q3 2011 1.63

Q4 2011 1.63

Q1 2011 1.65

 

DAILY DETAIL

Signals emerging from last night’s Fed press conference confirmed the expectation that the US central bank is in no hurry to tighten policy. As a result, sterling has surged to a seventeen-month high against the US currency, moving past $1.67 for the first time since the heady days of 2009. Bernanke’s dovish stance on the picture for US inflation, i.e. that he does not expect any tightening of policy in the near future, has underlined the fact that the Bank of England is still likely to raise interest rates before the US does. US dollar weakness meant that sterling was able to shrug off a drop in UK consumer confidence to its lower level since February 2009. The GfK NOP index of sentiment fell to -31 in April from -28, with each of the five elements of the gauge declining. An indication of the difficult situation on the high street was seen in the major purchases gauge, which dropped by two points to -30. So while Threadneedle Street might be ahead of Washington on the road to monetary tightening, it remains some way behind its counterparts in Frankfurt, where the battle against inflation has been joined in earnest. Chris Beauchamp, London