FX MARKET REPORT 21.04.2021
GBP/USD trades with modest losses, still above 1.3900 mark. The European Internal Market Commissioner Breton has stated that at least 12 of the 27 countries in the bloc are confident that they will be able to vaccinate 70% of their adult population by mid-July. Although such good news is likely to be EUR supportive, we do not expect the EUR to react in the same bullish way as GBP did at the start of the year as the UK’s vaccine roll-out accelerated. This was linked with a push higher in gilt yields which in turn coincided with rising treasury yields and, in February, a less dovish than expected tone from the BoE. Germany’s export sector was already well supported last year from Chinese demand, suggesting there is less scope for a spike in GDP than in the UK. Rabobank expects the pound to continue appreciating, forecasting GBP/EUR at 1.1765 on a 3-month view. EUR/USD has extended its recovery further than expected after holding the 38.2% retracement of the 2020/2021 uptrend at 1.1695, clearing with relative ease resistance at 1.1990/97. The dollar edged lower in early European trading Wednesday, retreating once more near to seven-week lows as lower bond yields reduced its attractiveness. The dollar index was 0.1% lower at 91.175, after slumping as low as 90.856 on Tuesday for the first time since March 3. USD/JPY was down 0.1% at 108.03, while the risk-sensitive AUD/USD fell 0.1% to 0.7713.