The Sterling strengthened significantly against the Euro, continuing to benefit from strong inflation data and a more hawkish stance of the Bank of England. The EUR/GBP exchange rate fell 0.51% or 45 base points ahead of the report showing diminished EU trade balance. Data managed to keep the pair consolidating below the 0.8820 level.
According to the Eurostat, the European Union's trade balance release for July marked that the surplus decreased more than expected to €18.6B from €22.3B registered previously, supporting the bearish sentiment in the pair. However, while businesses put off investments and the UK households kept suffering from a real income squeeze amid Brexit fears, the EUR/GBP is set to be seen at 0.90 by the end of 2017.
| Historical Data Table: EU Trade Balance | |||||
| Date | 16.05.2017 | 15.06.2017 | 14.07.2017 | 17.08.2017 | 15.09.2017 |
| Actual | 23.1B | 19.6B | 19.7B | 22.3B | 18.6B |
| Forecast | 18.8B | 22.4B | 20.3B | 20.4B | 20.1B |
| Initial Reaction on Main Pairs | |||||
| Open Price | Close Price | % Change | |||
| EUR/USD | 1.19208 | 1.19295 | 0.07% | ||
| EUR/GBP | 0.88621 | 0.88169 | -0.51% | ||
| EUR/CHF | 1.14671 | 1.14605 | -0.06% | ||
| EUR/JPY | 131.987 | 132.089 | 0.08% | ||