Sterling jumps vs yen after BOJ's radical policy shift
Reuters
Published Mar 19, 2024 11:05
By Amanda Cooper
LONDON (Reuters) - The pound slipped against the dollar and the euro on Tuesday, and jumped against the yen, after the Bank of Japan's decision to ditch negative interest rates after eight years.
Sterling was last down 0.45% at $1.2672, while the euro rose 0.1% against the pound to 85.54 pence.
Against the yen, sterling rose 0.5% to 190.70, just shy of late February's 8-1/2 year high of 191.32.
On Tuesday, the BOJ delivered its first rate hike in 17 years. The decision was widely expected and interest rates are still around zero, meaning other higher-yielding currencies such as the pound retain their allure, while the yen was widely sold off across.
The pound has risen by nearly 18% against the yen in the last 12 months, well ahead of the 15% gain in the euro against the Japanese currency, or even the 10% rise in the New Zealand dollar, which has the highest interest rates within the G10.
The Bank of England will deliver its decision on interest rates on Thursday. It is not expected to make any change to the Bank Rate, but investors will scour the central bank's statement for any indication of when monetary policy might change.
Wednesday brings data on UK inflation, which is expected to have cooled in February.
A Reuters poll of economists offers a median forecast for a rise of 3.5% in the headline consumer price index from January's 4% rate, while the core rate is expected to have slowed to 4.6% from 5.1%.
"A consensus CPI figure should be just strong enough to keep the BoE's messaging on hold and we suspect that the risks are tilted to the upside for sterling from an uneventful policy statement," Kyle Chapman, FX market analyst at broker Ballinger.
Markets are pricing in at least two rate cuts by the BoE this year, with the jury out on a third.
The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank are expected to deliver around three cuts in 2024, which theoretically gives the pound an edge over the dollar and the euro.
Investors have enthusiastically bought sterling this year, driving the value of the existing net long position - one that assumes the pound will rise against the dollar - to its largest on record, at $5.632 billion.
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Written By: Reuters
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