News article

Pound up as trade deficit narrows

Pound up as trade deficit narrows
//
A narrowing in the UK's trade deficit helped the pound to trade higher during Forex trading this morning.

The currency hit a day high of $1.5409 against the dollar just prior to the release of new figures showing the trade gap in the country narrowed to £6.179 billion in February, Reuters reports.

This contraction puts the figure lower than the £7.35 billion analysts had forecast and helped to reverse the fortunes of the British currency, which had been lower in early trading.

It since retreated slightly to be priced at $1.5390 by 10:59 BST, putting it up 0.1 per cent on the day.

Investec's Philip Shaw was quoted by the news source as saying the increase in exports revealed in the data is "positive for the UK's medium-term prospects".

Sterling has fared worse against the euro so far this week and fell yesterday after it was announced over the weekend that European finance ministers have agreed a bailout package for Greece.

Posted by Clive ArneilADNFCR-1681-ID-19718560-ADNFCR