UK's sterling extended its previous session rally against the currencies of Europe and Switzerland in early New York trading on Tuesday. The pound also started edging higher against the greenback after a brief descending trend in early trading.
The pound extended gains after the Office for National Statistics said inflation accelerated for the first time in eight months. UK annual inflation rose to 1.5% in October from 1.1% in September. Annual inflation accelerated for the first time since February 2009 and stood slightly above the expected rate of 1.4%. On a monthly basis, consumer prices were up 0.2%, faster than the 0.1% expected.
Core inflation that excludes volatile energy, food, alcohol and tobacco prices, stood at 1.8% on a yearly basis, up from 1.7% in September.
However, the broader measure of inflation known as the Retail Price Index, which includes the cost of housing, is still 0.8% lower than a year ago, compared with a fall of 1.4% in September. Economists were looking an annual 1% decline. The index stood at 216, up from 215.3 in the prior month.
The pound surged to 0.8843 against the European currency by 10:00 am ET, the highest level since September 15. This was up 2.5 percent from last week's 15-day low of 0.9067 and 0.7 percent from yesterday's close of 0.8904. On the upside, the sterling may find resistance near the 0.881 level.
Traders reacted to a report from the Eurostat showed that Eurozone unadjusted trade surplus stood at EUR 3.7 billion in September, up from a deficit of EUR 2.3 billion in August, revised from EUR 4 billion deficit reported initially. Exports dropped 18% year-on-year to EUR 111.8 billion in September, while imports fell 24% to EUR 108.1 billion.
The pound also jumped to a 2-month high of 1.7102 against the Swiss franc by 10:00 am ET, compared to 1.6952 hit late New York Monday. The pound-franc pair is presently worth 1.71 with 1.717 seen as the next target level.
The franc fell against other major currencies today as the Swiss retail trade turnover declined for a second straight month in September.
The Federal Statistical Office said Switzerland's real retail trade turnover declined 1.6% in September from the corresponding month of the previous year. Sales were down 1% in August, following July's 1% increase. Sale of food increased 1.1%, reversing 0.3% fall in August. Meanwhile, clothing and footwear sales declined 8.9%.
The pound drifted higher to 150.26 against the Japanese yen by 10:00 am ET from its early European session's low of 149.41. The pound-yen pair, which closed yesterday's deals at 149.82, is presently worth 149.92.
An index measuring tertiary industry activity in Japan was down 0.5 percent in September, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said today, posting a score of 96.4. That was below analyst expectations that had called for a 0.2 percent monthly increase after the 0.3 percent gain in August.
The UK currency moved mostly sideways against its US counterpart in early New York deals today. The pound moved in a range between 1.683 and 1.678 in the session. The cable that closed yesterday's deals at 1.6819 is presently quoted at 1.6772.
In the US, the Labor Department said its producer price index rose 0.3 percent in October following an unrevised 0.6 percent decrease in September. Economists had been expecting prices to increase by a somewhat more significant 0.5 percent.
At the same time, core producer prices, which exclude food and energy prices, fell 0.6 percent in October after slipping by 0.1 percent in the previous month. The decrease came as a surprise to economists, who had expected core prices to edge up by 0.1 percent.
Meanwhile, a report released by the Federal Reserve showed that industrial production edged up by 0.1 percent in October following a revised 0.6 percent increase in September. Economists had expected production to increase by 0.4 percent compared to the 0.7 percent growth originally reported for the previous month.
Additionally, the Federal Reserve said that capacity utilization rose to 70.7 percent in October from an unrevised 70.5 percent in September. The increase was slightly smaller than the expectations of economists, who expected capacity utilization to increase to 70.8 percent.
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May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.