The pound to euro exchange rate rocketed to a two-week high as the trading week got underway yesterday. GBP investors continue to monitor the coronavirus crisis, experts have said. However, the pound’s bump upwards benefited from “glimmers of hope surrounding a potential vaccine.”
Coronavirus will remain the focal point today although attention will also likely be on month- and quarter-end rebalancing flows.
The pound is currently trading at 1.1213 against the euro, according to Bloomberg at the time of writing.
Michael Brown, currency expert at international payments and foreign exchange firm Caxton FX, spoke to Express.co.uk regarding the latest exchange rate figures this morning.
“Sterling continued to press higher against the common currency on Monday,” said Brown.
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“It hit a fresh two-week high just below the 1.13 handle, as investors continued to closely monitor the coronavirus pandemic.
“Sentiment was also boosted by some glimmers of hope surrounding a potential vaccine.
“Today, the virus will – of course – remain the primary centre of attention, though month- and quarter-end rebalancing flows are likely to have a significant impact on price action.”
Coronavirus has made currency very vulnerable over the past weeks.
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There are currently a total 786,291 confirmed cases globally, 22,454 of which are in the UK.
Greg Baggio, Head of Performance at WeSwap, said: “Across all markets, we’ve seen extreme volatility levels and the FX market is no different.
“Currency movements are not only driven by headlines on COVID 19’s progress, but also by the various governments and central banks’ decisions on interest rates and cash injections to support their economies.
British travellers are worried about the money they have lost on cancelled holidays.
Travel association ABTA yesterday warned that a lack of Government action on travel regulation puts UK travel businesses on the brink.
ABTA cautioned that “catastrophic damage” could be caused to the UK travel industry.
What’s more, Britons could face lengthy delays in getting refunded for their cancelled holidays if travel firms are forced into bankruptcy.
France, Belgium, Denmark, Italy have all introduced changes to EU rules but UK government “drags its feet,” ABTA said in a statement.
Package Travel Regulations currently stipulate that the window for refund payments is 14 days.
However, ABTA has said that this should be extended to a four-month period.
ABTA Chief Executive Mark Tanzer said: “The global pandemic has put enormous financial strain on tour operators and travel agents, with businesses seeing a collapse in sales while facing immediate repatriation costs and refund demands for cancelled holidays on a scale that is unmanageable in the short term.
“These businesses are themselves waiting for refunds from hotels and airlines and without this money, they simply do not have the cash to provide refunds to customers within 14 days. Existing regulations are entirely unsuited to deal with this situation.”
