London: The pound jumped on Thursday, taking the Australian dollar with it, after US President Donald Trump said he would announce “a major trade deal” later in the day. Sterling climbed 0.4% to $1.3341, even with the Bank of England widely expected to announce a quarter-point rate cut later in the day.
According to Qatar News Agency, the risk-sensitive Aussie leapt as much as 0.6% against the greenback, and the New Zealand dollar advanced as much as 0.5%. The Chinese yuan was little changed at 7.2325 per dollar in offshore markets, following a 0.26% decline on Wednesday.
The US dollar index, which measures the greenback against six major peers, eased 0.2% to 99.682, erasing about two-thirds of the previous day’s advance. The euro added 0.2% to $1.1327, reversing course after a 0.56% decline on Wednesday.
The dollar weakened 0.1% to 143.63 yen and fell 0.2% to 0.8229 Swiss franc.