Yahoo Finance Pound Set to Snap Losing Streak Vs. Dollar Despite Record Covid-19 U.K. Death Toll
By Yasin Ebrahim
Investing.com – The pound continued to rack up gains on Friday and remained on track to snap a two-week losing streak against the U.S. dollar, even as data showed the biggest rise in coronavirus deaths in the UK so far, threatening to keep economically-burdensome lockdown measures in place for a prolonged period.
GBP/USD surged 1.82% to $1.2424.
The death toll rose by 181 to 759, the biggest increase so far, with infections topping 14,000 nationwide. Several lawmakers in the U.K., including Prime Minister Boris Johnson, have tested positive for Covid-19.
The rally in the pound was also helped by weakness in the dollar despite Congress passing its $2 trillion stimulus package on Friday, with President Donald Trump expected to sign it into law later today.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, fell by 0.75% to 98.60.
The weakness in the greenback has been driven by the Federal Reserve's pledge to ramp up its bond-buying program and roll out further supportive measures to ease access to dollars and alleviate funding concerns.
But as the world's reserve currency, the dollar is expected to bottom out sooner rather than later, as the Covid-19 pandemic threatens to hurl the global economy into a deep recession.
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