Euro sterling exchange rate on 25/10: EUR remains a stubborn customer as GBP finds support from growth figures

At 11:00 in London we see the euro sterling exchange rate quoted at 0.8519 - unchanged on last night's close.

Yesterday we saw the pound sterling recover ground lost earlier in the session, so we are off this week's lows.

Nevertheless, while the GBP staged a rally following today's GDP figures, GBP/EUR was unable to follow suit showing just how sticky this pairing has become.

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Why is the British pound struggling against the Euro?

According to analysts over at Lloyds Bank Research the answer to the above question lies not with the pound sterling, but rather with the euro:

"EUR/GBP has been edging higher over the past few sessions, breaking above the 200day moving average. However, this is arguably due to EUR outperformance than GBP underperformance, with GBP having made gains against the high-yielders."

Boris Schlossberg at BK Asset Management gives his explanation as to why the euro is currently so popular:

"The euro remained generally well bid despite a weaker than expected IFO reading as currency market traders continued to make it their favourite anti-dollar trade."

Today's market data

The data releases kicked off with the IFO report which printed at 107.4 versus 108.2 expected while the current conditions component slipped slightly to 111.3 vs. 111.4 the period prior.

While this disappointment has halted the euro's advance it certainly hasn't put the shared currency into reverse.

The big event for the UK was the release of Q3 GDP data.

GDP increased by 0.8 per cent in the third quarter of this year, the Office for National Statistics figures showed, the third successive period of growth and the best performance since the second quarter of 2010.

It means the British economy is now expanding at above the historic trend rate of 2.5 per cent a year, the ONS said.

"This shows that Britain’s hard work is paying of and the country is on the path to prosperity," Chancellor Osborne said on Twitter.