British pound sterling (GBP) powers higher versus US dollar, finds form versus Australian dollar, marginally higher against the euro

The British pound sterling (Currency:GBP) continues to hold its advance against the US dollar at 14:30 in London. A strong recovery versus the Australian dollar has also been recorded:

• A look at the spot market rates shows that the pound / euro exchange rate is 0.11 pct higher at 1.1581.
• The pound / US dollar exchange rate is 0.55 pct higher at 1.5097.
• The pound / Australian dollar is 0.49 pct higher at 1.6452.

NB: The above are spot market quotes to which your bank will affix a discretionary spread. However, an independent FX provider will guarantee to deliver between 2% and 5% more currency by beating your bank's spread. Please learn more.  

With a lack of data events in the UK today we are left to look at the technical charts for guidance, see our live coverage for the latest updates.

Sterling is also playing second fiddle to those currencies that are seeing domestic events drive proceedings:

The US dollar exchange rate today

The US dollar has been sold-off in aggressive fashion today following last night's FOMC event.

Despite the declines of the past 24 hours expectations remain that the US dollar will maintain it's overall advantage. Shaun Osborne at TD Securities says:

"The USD has fallen sharply since late Wednesday and, in the near-term, the USD might prove a little more sensitive to US data disappointments.  But overall, the USD economy is liable to outperform much of the rest of the developed world by a considerable margin this year growth-wise and tapering will still push US yield premiums to USD-supportive levels.  We remain bullish on the broader USD outlook and think this week’s big swings give investors a chance to reset USD longs at attractive levels."

The euro exchange rate today

FX Market Alerts tell us:

"EUR/USD is slowly trying to gravitate back to the 1.2983 support where the intraday buyers could be lurking. After such a power reversal to the upside, it is extremely doubtful that the mkt can immediately power reverse back to the downside today,so 1.2983 could hold for now. Resistance is at 1.3100/64."

Commonwealth Foreign Exchange Inc say:

"The euro jumped to a three-week high against the U.S. dollar overnight after yesterday’s FOMC meeting minutes and Fed Chairman Bernanke’s speech injected some doubt as to the timing of eventual Fed tapering.

"The euro had fallen to a four-month low against the dollar on Wednesday on expectations that America’s central bank could begin to reduce its bond purchases as early as September.

"The extent of the move higher in the euro is a reflection of the fact that the market had been overwhelmingly short the single currency. Still, with the ECB clearly biased toward keeping conditions very accommodative, any rally is likely to remain short-lived."

The Australian dollar today

The Australian dollar had recorded advances against the British pound earlier in today's session.

However, concerns of an interest rate cut in August have grown after today's poor unemployment figures. ANZ Research point out that an interest rate hike in August is likely.

Commonwealth Foreign Exchange Inc say:

"The Aussie snapped back from a recent 33-month low against the dollar after yesterday’s dovish FOMC minutes and speech by Bernanke. The AUD added to its gains after data showed the Australian economy added 10,300 new jobs in June, confounding expectations for a decline of 2,500. The short-covering rally in the Aussie, while impressive, is likely to prove short lived."