Pound Sterling extends decline against US Dollar in countdown to Hormuz deadline
- The Pound Sterling declines sharply against the US Dollar amid Middle East conflicts.
- Iran vows to retaliate against the US and Iran in response to Trump’s 48-hour ultimatum.
- Investors await the UK flash PMI and the CPI data.
The Pound Sterling extends its intraday decline against the US Dollar (USD), trading 0.6% down to near 1.3260 during the European trading session on Monday. The GBP/USD pair tumbles as escalating conflicts in the Middle East have further diminished investors’ risk appetite.
During the press time, S&P 500 futures are down almost 1%, even after plummeting 1.5% on Friday. Meanwhile, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, is up 0.6%, slightly above 100.00, as its safe-haven demand has improved.
US Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies today. US Dollar was the strongest against the Australian Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.72% | 0.58% | 0.21% | 0.17% | 1.58% | 1.25% | 0.70% | |
| EUR | -0.72% | -0.14% | -0.48% | -0.55% | 0.97% | 0.51% | -0.03% | |
| GBP | -0.58% | 0.14% | -0.36% | -0.40% | 1.11% | 0.66% | 0.10% | |
| JPY | -0.21% | 0.48% | 0.36% | -0.03% | 1.36% | 0.95% | 0.47% | |
| CAD | -0.17% | 0.55% | 0.40% | 0.03% | 1.37% | 0.94% | 0.47% | |
| AUD | -1.58% | -0.97% | -1.11% | -1.36% | -1.37% | -0.44% | -0.87% | |
| NZD | -1.25% | -0.51% | -0.66% | -0.95% | -0.94% | 0.44% | -0.51% | |
| CHF | -0.70% | 0.03% | -0.10% | -0.47% | -0.47% | 0.87% | 0.51% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the US Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent USD (base)/JPY (quote).
Middle East conflicts have escalated as Iran vowed to retaliate against the United States (US) President Donald Trump’s 48-hour ultimatum, according to which there will attack on Iran’s power plants, with intentions to obliterate them, if Tehran doesn’t open the Strait of Hormuz within 48 hours.
On the domestic front, investors await the United Kingdom (UK) preliminary S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for March and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for February, which will be released on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively.
The impact of the UK inflation data is expected to be limited on the Bank of England’s (BoE) monetary policy outlook, as rising energy prices due to supply chain disruptions amid Middle East conflicts have increased global inflation expectations.
In the monetary policy announcement last week, the BoE left interest rates unchanged at 3.75% and raised Q3 CPI projections to 3.5% from previously estimates of 2.1% due to the global energy price shock.
(This story was corrected at 11:00 GMT to say in the fourth paragraph that investors await the United Kingdom (UK) preliminary S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for March and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for February, which will be released on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, and not the opposite)