Pound subdued as political uncertainty continues

The pound was mostly flat mid-week as UK politics remained firmly in focus following Tuesday’s leaders’ debate.

Sterling is trading statically this morning, with GBP/EUR muted at €1.1674, GBP/USD rangebound at $1.2937, and GBP/CAD flat at C$1.7220. GBP/AUD and GBP/NZD are both holding steady at AU$1.9027 and NZ$2.0140 respectively.

The euro will be in focus today as investors look to the release of the latest ECB minutes and the Eurozone’s consumer sentiment index.

What’s been happening?

The pound traded sideways on Wednesday in response to ongoing political uncertainty in the UK.

Drawing the most attention for GBP investors yesterday was the head-to-head debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn on Tuesday evening.

Whilst it’s generally agreed that the debate ended in a tie, Labour was thought to have benefitted from it the most, given the party is currently trailing behind the Conservatives in the polls.

This limited the appeal of Sterling amid fears it could dampen the Tories’ chances of securing a majority in the upcoming election.

Meanwhile, the euro was left rangebound as the European Central Bank’s (ECB) bi-annual Financial Stability Review warned that risks to the Eurozone remain ‘tilted to the downside’.

Finally, the US dollar struggled to find momentum yesterday, with markets shrugging off the minutes from the Federal Reserve’s October meeting as they were mostly in line with expectations, reaffirming the bank’s decision to hit pause on its monetary policy.

What’s coming up?

The euro will be in the spotlight today as markets gear up for the release of the minutes from the ECB’s October policy meeting.

While the minutes are unlikely to contain any major revelations, they will still be watched closely ahead of Christine Lagarde’s first public speech as ECB President on Friday.

Traders will also keep any eye out for this afternoon’s consumer confidence figures, which are expected to show a modest improvement in sentiment this month.

For USD investors the focus today will be on the Philadelphia manufacturing index. The US dollar could accelerate if manufacturing activity continued to recover in November.

In the absence of any notable data, UK politics will continue to act as the main catalyst of pound movement as Labour launches its election manifesto.