The pairing stabilised over the Easter holidays as traders awaited the resumption of cross-party Brexit talks, and with MPs returning to Westminster the pound has remained unmoved despite growing pressure on Prime Minister Theresa May to step down. Nigel Evans, a Conservative backbencher, is one of those calling for Mrs May to resign. He said: “The only way we’re going to break this impasse properly is if we have fresh leadership of the Conservative Party… “If there was an announcement today by the prime minister then of course we could start the process straight away.”
The US dollar, meanwhile, remains unmoved against the pound following US President Donald Trump’s announcement on Monday that he would end exemptions from sanctions for countries buying oil from Iran.
This would mean that waivers would expire in May for such countries as China, India and South Korea.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo defended Mr Trump’s decision.
He said: “[He is] dramatically accelerating our pressure campaign in a calibrated way that meets our national security objectives while maintaining well supplied global oil markets.”
Many greenback investors are remaining cautious, however, as this could put further strain on US-China relations, delaying the possibility of a trade deal emerging between the two economic superpowers.
US dollar investors will be looking ahead to the publication of the US Housing Price Index figures for February later today.
These will be followed by the US new home sales figures for March, which are expected to dip slightly.
There are, by contrast, no UK economic data releases today, with pound investors awaiting any sudden Brexit developments instead.
The pound US dollar exchange rate is likely to remain relatively stable, although any unexpected rises in US housing data could provide positive for the US dollar, while the pound could suffer if Theresa May’s position becomes untenable.