The exchange rate of the euro rose slightly on Thursday. In the evening, the common currency cost $ 1.0198, 0.3 percent more than the previous evening.
Sterling was the focus of the FX market after the Bank of England interest rate decision. The UK currency fell to a daily low of $1.2067 from $1.2143 earlier. In view of the inflation getting out of control, the British central bank has raised the key interest rate by half a percentage point to 1.75 percent. It’s the Bank of England’s biggest move in 27 years. BoE observer Samuel Fuller from Financial Markets Online sees economic bleak times ahead for the UK: “It may not be as bad as in Turkey, where the inflation rate is reaching 80 percent. But that will be cold consolation when the energy shortages The UK is heading into dark and uncomfortable climes in the new year. Frankly, it’s an economic time bomb and interest rates can only go one way.” Higher interest rates are intended to prevent the rise in inflation from taking root in the economy and thus causing wages and prices to continue to escalate. Because of persistently high inflation in the USA, the Fed has even raised the key interest rate twice in a row by 0.75 percentage points. After the decision by the Opec+ oil association the previous day to only slightly expand production from September, oil prices continued their ups and downs. A barrel of Brent was two percent lower at $ 94.82 after the price had previously risen significantly. The decision was also received with particular interest on the market because US President Joe Biden had asked the oil company Saudi Arabia to increase production. Along with Russia, Saudi Arabia is the strongest voice in Opec+.