The Great Britain pound rebounded versus the US dollar following the release of underwhelming nonfarm payrolls. The sterling had no such luck against other peers, and in fact it dropped even further amid political uncertainty.
As to be expected, the pound was able to recover versus the dollar after unexpectedly poor employment data hurt the greenback. Unfortunately for the sterling, the same event made other major currencies more attractive, driving them higher not just against the US currency, but also versus Britain’s currency, which was already pretty soft.
The problem for the pound was the upcoming general election on June 8. Initially, it looked like the event will be a sure way for Prime Minister Theresa May to consolidate power, making Brexit negotiations with the European Union a bit easier and the currency a lot stronger. But now, there is no certainty in anything as some polls show that May’s Conservative party will not get a majority in the government, while others promise a solid majority. With so much uncertainty and volatility, plenty of speculators preferred to avoid the sterling altogether, fearing to make bets one way or the other.
GBP/USD traded at 1.2889 as of 20:55 GMT today after opening at 1.2879 and falling to the low of 1.2845. GBP/JPY dropped from 143.38 to 142.35. EUR/GBP rallied from 0.8701 to 0.8748, and its daily high of 0.8767 was the highest since March 14.
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