Pound rose against euro

01-17-2009 15:34

Last Friday the British pound gained against the euro and so did some other major currencies, due to the euro trade balance deficit. While the pound continues being a high-yielding currency, traders desire the same from the euro.

The trade balance of the European Union countries showed a € 7 billion deficit in November 2008 according to the Eurostat report, while November 2007 resulted in a € 2.3 billion surplus. These statistics damaged the European currency because the market participants calculated a surplus of approximately € 1 billion for November 2008.

Despite the not very hopeful figures of the Euro zone, the increase in the Asian and U.S. stock markets during the recent sessions made the traders eager to take risks this Friday. One of the currencies that enables traders to obtain their ‘safe risk’ is the Great Britain pound and for this reason the pound rose against the euro for the third consecutive day.

GBP/ USD advanced from 1.4651 to 1.4930, while GBP/ JPY went up from 131.62 to 135.18 today. EUR/ GBP dropped from 0.8967 to 0.8895 (Friday 16, 11:23 GMT).