EUR/GBP JUMPS TO NEAR 0.8570 ON MIX UK EMPLOYMENT DATA

• EUR/GBP is scaling higher on lower-than-expected UK Claimant Count Change data.
• The jobless claims have plunged to -19.7k from the prior print of 65.5k.
• This week, investors’ focus will remain on the monetary policy of the BOE.

The EUR/GBP pair is displaying wild moves and has finally moved on the upside as the UK Office for National Statistics have reported mixed UK employment data. A meaningful slippage has been witnessed in the Claimant Count Change as the economic data has slipped to -19.7k vs. the expectations of 49.4k and the prior print of 65.5k. The Unemployment Rate has increased further to 3.8% from the consensus of 3.6%.

The cross was trending lower earlier after multiple failed attempts of kissing the psychological resistance of 0.8600. On a broader note, wild swings were featured by the cross after the European Central Bank (ECB) kept its interest rates unchanged at -0.1%. The market participants didn’t cheer the neutral interest rate policy by ECB President Christine Lagarde as inflationary pressures are mounting in the eurozone and are required to be contained sooner.

This week, the interest rate policy by the Bank of England (BOE) will be the mega event to look after. As per the market consensus, a rate hike by 25 basis points (bps) is expected to be announced. Mounting price pressures are compelling for a 50 bps rate hike by the BOE, however, lower growth forecasts and a resurgence in the recession fears is restricting the BOE to go beyond a quarter-to-a-percent rate hike.