Euro Pushes to Multi-Day Highs as Sterling Slips on Cautious BoE Hold
The Euro has reached multi-day highs against the Pound as Sterling slipped after the Bank of England's interest rate decision. In a 6-3 vote, the BoE decided to hold the interest rate at 3.75%, its sixth consecutive hold.
Three members, who had also dissented in July, pushed for an immediate quarter-point rise to 4.00%. UK inflation is running at 3.1%, well above the 2% target and a five-month high, with the Bank warning that price risks are tilted further to the upside.
Despite this, Governor Andrew Bailey stressed that the central bank's job is to keep any rise in inflation temporary. The BoE does not meet again until November, when fresh forecasts will arrive and the case for a hike gets properly tested.
The Euro has been climbing towards the 0.8600 barrier, reaching its highest level in several days. In technical analysis, the EUR/GBP pair is holding above both the 100-period Simple Moving Average (SMA) at 0.8578 and the 20-period SMA at 0.8569.