Home Daily Commentaries Strong USD puts pressure on pound, euro

Strong USD puts pressure on pound, euro

Daily Currency Update

USD - United States Dollar


The US dollar edged higher against a basket of major currencies as stock markets around the world were lower this morning, which has led to some USD buying. It appears that concerns over the supply of energy that is impacting Chinese factories is hitting investor sentiment as well as jitters over the upcoming US debt ceiling negotiations and COVID-19 concerns as we head into the winter. The US Dollar Index was up 0.42%, trading at 93.78 at the time of writing.

This week is dominated by central bank talk with The European Central Bank's Christine Lagarde, the US Federal Reserve's Jerome Powell and the Bank of England's Andrew Bailey all due to take part in a virtual discussion on Wednesday hosted by the ECB.

This Friday’s US Core Personal Consumption Expenditure data, which is another gauge of inflation, will likely be the key mover of rates as we head into the weekend.

Key Movers

It appears it could be several weeks or even months before the new German government is formed as Olaf Sholz, leader of the Social Democrats, who won the largest share of the vote, looks to woo the Greens and Liberals into forming a new coalition. To get them onboard there will likely be much debate and lobbying to create a mandate that is palatable to all sides. The longer the discussions drag on, we could see added downward pressure to the euro as the uncertainty impacts business confidence in the Eurozone’s largest economy. EURUSD was down 0.16% trading around 1.1677 at the time of writing.

GBPUSD fell 1.30% this morning thanks to a stronger US dollar and recent downbeat news on the UK economy. Spiking energy costs and a shortage of drivers affecting food and fuel deliveries has prompted UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to instruct the army to prepare to help. GBPUSD was trading around 1.3528 at the time of writing.

Expected Ranges

  • EUR/USD: 1.1673 - 1.1708 ▼
  • GBP/USD: 1.3529 - 1.3725 ▼
  • AUD/USD: 0.7232 - 0.7308 ▼
  • USD/CAD: 1.2596 - 1.2688 ▲