British Pound surrenders early gains as US Dollar regains ground
- The British Pound retreats against the US Dollar as the latter bounces back.
- The US attack on Iranian infrastructure has prompted fears of a prolonged Middle East war.
- Investors await the US CPI data for fresh cues regarding the Fed’s monetary policy outlook.
The British Pound (GBP) gives back its early gains and turns almost flat around 1.3410 against the US Dollar (USD) during the European trading session on Friday. The GBP/USD pair falls back as the US Dollar regains ground amid fears that the restart of the war between the United States (US) and Iran would last long.
US Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the weakest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.02% | -0.03% | -0.44% | -0.00% | -0.04% | -0.21% | -0.06% | |
| EUR | 0.02% | -0.01% | -0.41% | 0.02% | -0.03% | -0.19% | -0.04% | |
| GBP | 0.03% | 0.01% | -0.39% | 0.03% | -0.02% | -0.17% | -0.04% | |
| JPY | 0.44% | 0.41% | 0.39% | 0.44% | 0.40% | 0.21% | 0.36% | |
| CAD | 0.00% | -0.02% | -0.03% | -0.44% | -0.04% | -0.21% | -0.07% | |
| AUD | 0.04% | 0.03% | 0.02% | -0.40% | 0.04% | -0.17% | -0.06% | |
| NZD | 0.21% | 0.19% | 0.17% | -0.21% | 0.21% | 0.17% | 0.13% | |
| CHF | 0.06% | 0.04% | 0.04% | -0.36% | 0.07% | 0.06% | -0.13% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
In the European trade, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which gauges the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, recovers to near 100.85, but is still 0.1% down from Thursday’s closing price. Earlier in the day, the DXY revisited the three-week low of 100.60.
Late Thursday, the Iranian state media confirmed US forces striking several more locations in coastal Iran. In the last two trading days, several media outlets have reported that the US Central Command has attacked Iran’s power and water infrastructure.
However, a US official has confirmed that technical talks with Iran are still going on despite President Donald Trump declaring an end to the memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Iran.
On the domestic front, investors shift focus to the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for June, which will be released on Tuesday. The data is expected to show that the core CPI – which excludes volatile items such as food and oil – grew at a steady pace of 2.9% Year-on-Year (YoY).
The impact of the US inflation data will be significant on the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) monetary policy outlook, as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) minutes of the June meeting showed on Wednesday that high inflation is still a “dominant risk” for policymakers.
US Dollar FAQs
The US Dollar (USD) is the official currency of the United States of America, and the ‘de facto’ currency of a significant number of other countries where it is found in circulation alongside local notes. It is the most heavily traded currency in the world, accounting for over 88% of all global foreign exchange turnover, or an average of $6.6 trillion in transactions per day, according to data from 2022. Following the second world war, the USD took over from the British Pound as the world’s reserve currency. For most of its history, the US Dollar was backed by Gold, until the Bretton Woods Agreement in 1971 when the Gold Standard went away.
The most important single factor impacting on the value of the US Dollar is monetary policy, which is shaped by the Federal Reserve (Fed). The Fed has two mandates: to achieve price stability (control inflation) and foster full employment. Its primary tool to achieve these two goals is by adjusting interest rates. When prices are rising too quickly and inflation is above the Fed’s 2% target, the Fed will raise rates, which helps the USD value. When inflation falls below 2% or the Unemployment Rate is too high, the Fed may lower interest rates, which weighs on the Greenback.
In extreme situations, the Federal Reserve can also print more Dollars and enact quantitative easing (QE). QE is the process by which the Fed substantially increases the flow of credit in a stuck financial system. It is a non-standard policy measure used when credit has dried up because banks will not lend to each other (out of the fear of counterparty default). It is a last resort when simply lowering interest rates is unlikely to achieve the necessary result. It was the Fed’s weapon of choice to combat the credit crunch that occurred during the Great Financial Crisis in 2008. It involves the Fed printing more Dollars and using them to buy US government bonds predominantly from financial institutions. QE usually leads to a weaker US Dollar.
Quantitative tightening (QT) is the reverse process whereby the Federal Reserve stops buying bonds from financial institutions and does not reinvest the principal from the bonds it holds maturing in new purchases. It is usually positive for the US Dollar.
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