AGL 37.98 Decreased By ▼ -0.04 (-0.11%)
AIRLINK 212.00 Increased By ▲ 14.64 (7.42%)
BOP 9.56 Increased By ▲ 0.02 (0.21%)
CNERGY 6.32 Increased By ▲ 0.41 (6.94%)
DCL 9.10 Increased By ▲ 0.28 (3.17%)
DFML 37.68 Increased By ▲ 1.94 (5.43%)
DGKC 99.15 Increased By ▲ 2.29 (2.36%)
FCCL 35.95 Increased By ▲ 0.70 (1.99%)
FFBL 88.94 Increased By ▲ 6.64 (8.07%)
FFL 13.89 Increased By ▲ 0.72 (5.47%)
HUBC 129.41 Increased By ▲ 1.86 (1.46%)
HUMNL 13.56 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.44%)
KEL 5.45 Increased By ▲ 0.13 (2.44%)
KOSM 7.21 Increased By ▲ 0.21 (3%)
MLCF 45.25 Increased By ▲ 0.55 (1.23%)
NBP 60.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.72 (-1.17%)
OGDC 219.03 Increased By ▲ 4.36 (2.03%)
PAEL 40.85 Increased By ▲ 2.06 (5.31%)
PIBTL 8.48 Increased By ▲ 0.23 (2.79%)
PPL 198.10 Increased By ▲ 5.02 (2.6%)
PRL 39.99 Increased By ▲ 1.33 (3.44%)
PTC 27.63 Increased By ▲ 1.83 (7.09%)
SEARL 108.52 Increased By ▲ 4.92 (4.75%)
TELE 8.63 Increased By ▲ 0.33 (3.98%)
TOMCL 35.66 Increased By ▲ 0.66 (1.89%)
TPLP 13.82 Increased By ▲ 0.52 (3.91%)
TREET 24.38 Increased By ▲ 2.22 (10.02%)
TRG 61.15 Increased By ▲ 5.56 (10%)
UNITY 33.65 Increased By ▲ 0.68 (2.06%)
WTL 1.69 Increased By ▲ 0.09 (5.63%)
BR100 12,051 Increased By 324.7 (2.77%)
BR30 37,351 Increased By 974.7 (2.68%)
KSE100 112,618 Increased By 3104.5 (2.83%)
KSE30 35,531 Increased By 1017.9 (2.95%)

LONDON: Sterling dropped on Wednesday to its lowest level against the US dollar since November 2020 as British consumer price inflation leapt to its highest level in three decades.

Raising doubts on how aggressive the Bank of England tightening measures will be, British consumer prices jumped to an annual rate of 7.0% in March, the highest since March 1992 and up from 6.2% in February.

Sterling fell to $1.2973 in early London trading, hitting its lowest level against the dollar since November 2020. It traded flat at $1.3004 at 0835 GMT.

Against the euro, it was flat at 83.32 pence.

Traders said that while it was not clear how aggressive the BoE will be with its monetary policy tightening this year, they ramped up bets that the US central bank will accelerate its interest rate hiking.

Sterling slips, UK jobless rate lowest since 2019

“The pound has already slipped below $1.30 against the US dollar and could fall further towards $1.25 if we see further aggressive action by the Federal Reserve,” said Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets UK.

In order to tackle inflation, money markets are pricing in a 25 basis points Bank of England interest hike in May, and around 144 bps by December, though many strategists expect it to be less aggressive as the BoE forecasts economic growth will likely slow sharply this year as cost of living pressures mount.

“We think the BoE will try and strike a balance, raising rates at coming meetings to get policy on a more neutral footing, while keeping a watchful eye on how the consumer is holding up,” said Ambrose Crofton, Global Market Strategist at J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

Comments

Comments are closed.