Currency news / February 18, 2025

GBP gains on job market resilience

3 min read Thanim Islam

Thanim IslamFebruary 18, 2025

Market snapshot:

Data supports cautious rate cuts

Yesterday's currency recap

As the week kicks off with a calm start due to a sparse economic calendar and the US observing President's Day, the market remains steady. Meanwhile, the USD continues its downward trend, echoing the impact of last Friday's disappointing retail sales figures.

Today's GBP rates

Currency pair	Daily move*	Indicative rate**
GBPAUD	-0.01%	1.9813
GBPCAD	0.20%	1.7888
GBPCHF	0.32%	1.1360
GBPDKK	0.30%	8.9764
GBPEUR	0.30%	1.2034
GBPJPY	-0.37%	190.9550
GBPNOK	0.02%	14.0055
GBPNZD	0.02%	2.1979
GBPSEK	0.28%	13.4955
GBPUSD	0.20%	1.2402

*Daily move - against G10 rates at 7:30am, 18.02.25
** Indicative rates - interbank rates at 7:30am, 18.02.25

Key data points

Currency	Event	Period	Consensus	Previous
EUR	ZEW Survey	Feb		18.00%
CAD	CPI MoM	Jan	0.10%	-0.40%
USD	CPI YoY	Jan	1.90%	1.80%

What we think

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut interest rates by 0.25% early this morning but was hawkish in its message to markets, suggesting caution around future rate cuts. As a result, AUD is slightly firmer.

GBP is being supported after jobs data painted a stable picture. The unemployment rate didn’t rise to 4.5% as expected remaining at 4.4%, and wage growth came in higher than expected. As a result, this supports the Bank of England’s (BoE) recent comments on being cautious with further rate cuts – the next rate it priced in for May. Tomorrows CPI numbers could also give GBP a lift given current expectations are for a rise in prices.

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