Earlier today the Bank of England confirmed that they would be keeping interest rates on hold, but the voting pattern of the 9 members showed that 2 of the 9 members actually voted for an interest rate hike.
With Average Earnings figures surpassing UK inflation levels for the first time in a long time this has provided further support for the Bank of England to look at raising interest rates in the near future. At the moment the likelihood is that we’ll see an interest rate hike in May 2018 and this is why we have seen the Pound make some gains versus all the major currencies during today’s trading session.
With the Bank of England having raised interest rates towards the end of last year in order to combat rising inflation I think there is clearly a rising appetite for another interest rate hike to come and this has provided the Pound with some much needed support.
As we go into tomorrow’s trading session the EU summit is likely to cause a lot of movement for Sterling exchange rates as, depending on how the talks go this could have a big impact on exchange rates, so if you’re making a transfer with Pounds it will be very important to keep a close eye out on what could happen tomorrow.
We end the week with the latest Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin and this will also in my opinion provide details of reasons why an interest rate hike may be coming, so I expect the Pound to end the week on a high against the Euro in particular as long as the EU summit also does not cause too many problems.
We have had one of the most positive weeks for Sterling in many months so it may be worth taking advantage of current rates you you are looking to sell Pounds.