After trading down in early European deals, the British currency edged up against its major counterparts during New York morning trading on Wednesday. The minutes of the Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee meeting released in early European session, which showed that policymakers were split while deciding on a 50 basis points rate cut.
The meeting was held on February 4 and 5. Eight members of the Committee voted to reduce the Bank Rate by 50 basis points to 1%. The well-known dove of the rate setting body, David Blanchflower preferred a reduction of 100 basis points.
After touching a 16-day low of 1.4097 by about 4:30 am ET, the pound reversed its direction against the US dollar in New York morning deals on Wednesday. As of now, the pair is trading near 1.4186.
The US Federal Reserve released its report on industrial production and capacity utilization in the month of January today. The report showed that production fell by 1.8 percent in January following a revised 2.4 percent decrease in December.
According to a report released by the US Commerce Department on Wednesday that housing starts fell 16.8 percent to an annual rate of 466,000 in January from the revised December estimate of 560,000.
The U.S. Commerce Department also said today that import prices fell 1.1 percent for January.
The sterling ticked up against the euro and the Swiss franc from previous session's lows of 0.8910 and 1.6594 in New York morning today. At present, the pound is worth 1.6768 against the franc and 0.8828 versus the euro, compared to yesterday's close of 1.6656 and 0.8840, respectively.
Against the Japanese yen, the British currency also showed strength from European session's downtrend in New York morning deals today. At 10:30 am ET, the pound-yen pair climbed to 133.21 from earlier low of 130.44. Presently, the pair is trading at 132.84.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.