Investing.com - The pound slid against the dollar on Friday, ending the week close to 14-month lows as expectations that the Federal Reserve is moving closer to tightening monetary policy continued to underpin dollar demand.
GBP/USD was down 0.21% to 1.5651 in late trade, not far from Wednesday’s 14-month trough of 1.5588.
Demand for the dollar continued to remain underpinned after the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting indicated that officials believe the economic recovery is strong enough to withstand external threats to growth.
However, the minutes offered little additional clarity about when rates could start to rise. Markets are currently expecting the U.S. central bank to start raising rates sometime around September 2015.
Sterling remained under pressure after the Bank of England’s inflation report released earlier this month prompted investors to push back expectations for a rate hike, warning that inflation was likely to continue to slow in the coming months.
Elsewhere, the euro fell to more than one-week lows against sterling on Friday after European Central Bank President Mario Draghi indicated that it is moving closer to quantitative easing
EUR/GBP was down 0.98% to 0.7912 in late trade.
The drop in the euro came after Draghi warned that inflation expectations were declining to levels that were very low and said the ECB is ready to expand its stimulus program to raise inflation and inflation expectations as quickly as possible
The annual rate on inflation in the euro area was 0.4% in October, well below the ECB’s target of close to but just under 2%.
In the week ahead, the U.S. is to release a string of economic reports on Wednesday ahead of Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday, including reports at unemployment claims and durable goods orders. Tuesday’s testimony on monetary policy and the economic outlook by BoE Governor Mark Carney will also be closely watched.
Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of these and other significant events likely to affect the markets. The guide skips Monday, as there are no relevant events on this day.
Tuesday, November 25
The U.K. is to release private sector data on mortgage approvals. Also, BoE Governor Mark Carney is to testify before parliaments Treasury Committee.
The U.S. is to release revised data on third quarter gross domestic product and a report on consumer confidence.
Wednesday, November 26
The U.K. is to produce revised data on third quarter GDP. The country is also to release preliminary data on business investment and private sector data on retail sales.
The U.S. is to release a flurry of data ahead of Thursday’s holiday, including reports on durable goods orders, unemployment claims, personal income and spending, as well as reports on new and pending home sales and revised data on consumer sentiment.
Thursday, November 27
Markets in the U.S. are to remain closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday.
Friday, November 28
The U.K. is to round up the week with private sector data on house price inflation.