Updated with analysts, sterling performance
London (awp/afp) – The euro fell against the US dollar on Friday after cautious comments from European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde as the British pound enjoyed robust quarterly growth in the UK.
Around 4:00 p.m. GMT (5:00 p.m. CET), the euro fell 0.23% to 1.1401 dollars.
“The euro’s weakness was exacerbated by very cautious comments from European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde,” said Matthew Ryan, an analyst at Ebury.
Raising interest rates now “will not solve any of the current problems”, such as shortages of raw materials that are weighing on industry, Ms. Lagarde noted in an interview with German regional newspapers RND published on Friday.
“On the contrary, if we act too hastily now, the rebound of our economy will be considerably weaker and jobs would be at risk,” she added.
A caution that contrasts with the prospect of a tightening of American monetary policy, while inflation continued to accelerate in January in the United States to reach 7.5% over one year, a record in nearly 40 years. .
This should a priori push the US Federal Reserve (Fed) to raise its rates faster than expected, and therefore strengthen the dollar.
The British pound, meanwhile, gained 0.58% against the euro at 83.81 pence and 0.34% against the dollar at 1.3604 dollars for one pound.
The United Kingdom recorded record growth of 7.5% in 2021, the fastest in the G7, and in the fourth quarter alone, GDP increased by 1.0% despite the arrival of the wave of the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
“Today’s figures leave the door open for another rate hike in March” at the next Bank of England meeting, said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.
“All attention will now turn to the UK inflation figures which will be released next week,” he added.
Friday class Thursday class
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4:00 p.m. GMT 10:00 p.m. GMT
EUR/USD 1.1401 1.1428
EUR/JPY 132.12 132.57
EUR/CHF 1.0551 1.0574
EUR/GBP 0.8381 0.8429
USD/JPY 115.88 116.01
USD/CHF 0.9254 0.9253
GBP/USD 1.3604 1.3557
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