LONDON: Sterling was on track for its fifth straight weekly rise against the euro on Friday, while hovering near its highest levels since early April.
President Donald Trump’s April 2 announcement of aggressive trade duties triggered a sharp but brief selloff in US assets in the following days, supporting the single currency.
The greenback fell on Friday, tracking US Treasury yields, but was set for its fourth weekly rise versus the euro.
The euro area’s currency rose 0.1% to 84.14 pence but was on track for a weekly fall of 0.51%. It hit 84 pence on Tuesday, its lowest since April 3.
Market focus is shifting to a UK-European Union meeting next week after the pound rose on Thursday on strong economic data.
“Market participants will be hoping for a ‘reset’ of sorts in the relationship between Britain and the common bloc in the hope that an accord can be reached that reverses some of the damage done to trade relations,” said Matthew Ryan, strategist at global financial services firm Ebury.
“Signs of closer alignment between the UK and EU should be bullish for the pound,” he added.
Britain’s foreign minister will host European peers on Monday to discuss support for Ukraine and greater regional defence cooperation in the run-up to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s summit with European Union leaders next week.
Meanwhile, analysts are assessing the economic outlook after data showed that British businesses and consumers have remained largely unfazed by worries about the outlook for the economy.
ING highlighted that GDP growth slowed in the first quarter of 2025 on a yearly basis, while Schroders noted the British economy was open and prone to suffer from a global slowdown. The pound rose 0.05% to $1.33303.
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