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Pound up against dollar & euro

• Posted by currencies in Bank of England, Brexit, Currency, Dollar, Economy, EUR, GBP, Sterling, UK, Uncategorised
• March 15, 2018
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The dollar was pinned near one-week lows against a basket of major currencies today as concerns over trade protectionism and political turmoil in Washington continued to weigh.

Investors continued to be concerned that growing trade tensions could act as a drag on the global economy after U.S. President Donald Trump sought to impose tariffs on $60 billion of Chinese imports.

Trade tensions had already mounted after Trump last week announced plans to levy tariffs on U.S. imports of steel and aluminum.

The dollar was also on the back foot after U.S. data on Wednesday showed that retail sales fell for a third consecutive month in February, offsetting a modest increase in producer price inflation last month.

The data underlined expectations that the Federal Reserve is like to stick to a gradual pace of interest rate increases this year. The Fed is expected to hike rates three times this year, with the first hike anticipated at next week’s policy meeting.

The Euro has also weakened slightly after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said the bank still needs to see more evidence that inflation is moving closer to its target before it would consider the removal of monetary stimulus.