EUR / GBP continues to retreat from weekly highs and falls to 0.8445

• EUR / GBP fell back on Friday and eroded some of the gains that followed the ECB.
• Expectations of interest rate hikes from the BoE turned out to be a key factor supporting the GBP.
• Eurozone: inflation and growth show higher figures than expected.

The EUR / GBP remained weak in the European session and despite the economic data from the Eurozone. The cross fell to 0.8445, and was unable to regain ground significantly thereafter.

The euro could not hold after reaching highs in two weeks after the European Central Bank meeting. In turn, the pound is strengthened amid firm market expectations of an imminent rate hike by the Bank of England (BoE) at the next meeting. The speculation was fueled by the optimistic economic assessment of UK Finance Minister Rishi Sunak during the annual budget presentation on Wednesday.

On the other hand, Chirstine Lagarde acknowledged stronger-than-expected inflationary pressures on Thursday, but downplayed the need to raise interest rates. The ECB left everything unchanged, so that decisions on the purchase program are made in December.

In terms of data, according to Eurostat estimates published this Friday, the general CPI of the Eurozone rose to a 13-year high at 4.1% for the current month. This marked a notable acceleration from the 3.4% recorded in September and was also higher than the 3.7% increase in the market consensus. Furthermore, the reading exceeded the ECB’s 2% target. This, coupled with a better-than-expected Eurozone GDP reading for the third quarter, overshadowed a slight disappointment in German growth figures.

From a technical perspective, the recent move past the more than one-week upper limit of the trading range suggests that the EUR / GBP may have bottomed out and favors bullish traders. Although the rejection above 0.8460 calls for some caution. At 0.8435 is the next support and then at 0.8420.

Technical levels