Hello. Here is your market brief

April 20th: Currency Markets Highlights

• GBP/USD pulls back under 1.50
• Euro slips as Greece concerns escalate
• No clear election winner worries Sterling Investors
• Aussie Dollar re-approaches three week peak against USD

Sterling Comment

The pound rose to one-month highs against the broadly weaker dollar on Friday as investors scaled back expectations for higher U.S. interest rates after a recent string of lacklustre economic reports. GBPUSD touched highs of 1.5054 on Friday, the highest since March 18, before pulling back to within the recent range. The pair ended the week with gains of 2.2%. GBPUSD opens this morning around 1.4975

This week will be heavily dominated by news, opinion, rumours and hearsay surrounding Grexit and the UK election. Athens is no closer to reaching an agreement over economic reforms required to access remaining bailout funds, fuelling fears that Greece could default and be forced out of the euro zone.

There are 17 days left to the Election end game is fast approaching. The lacking majority it understandably worrying to sterling investors as no clear winner is looking likely. The highlight from the weekend campaign trail was Ed Miliband crossing paths with a hen party. We’re unconvinced voters will jump on the #Milibandwagon as a result. Hopefully the SNP’s manifesto will deliver something meatier today. GBPEUR is currently trading at 1.3888.

Global Overview

The euro slipped lower against USD earlier today as concerns over the lack of an agreement on economic reforms for bailout funds between Greece and its creditors weighed. EURUSD dipped 0.10% to 1.0801, easing from Friday’s one-week highs of 1.0848. The pair is now trading just over 1.0760.

The Australian dollar was higher against its U.S. counterpart on Monday, approaching a three-week peak as uncertainty over the timing of a U.S. rate hike continued to weigh on the greenback. AUDUSD hit 0.7828 during late Asian trade, the session high; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.7816, advancing 0.37%.