The British pound rose with the opening of the European market on Friday against a basket of global currencies, extending its gains for the sixth consecutive day against the US dollar and recording its highest level in two weeks, on the verge of achieving a weekly gain, thanks to the hawkish monetary policy meeting of the Bank of England.

The Bank of England cut interest rates to their lowest level in two and a half years, and the vote on the rate cut decision showed a sharp split among members regarding the seriousness of continuing to ease monetary policy, which led to a decline in expectations of a British interest rate cut in the upcoming September meeting.

Price Overview

• Pound exchange rate today: the pound rose against the dollar by 0.1% to $1.3454 — the highest since July 25 — from the opening price of $1.3442, and recorded the lowest level at $1.3434.

• The pound rose on Thursday by 0.65% against the dollar, marking a fifth consecutive daily gain, supported by the results of the Bank of England’s monetary policy meeting.

Weekly Trading

Over the course of this week, which officially ends at today’s settlement, the British pound is up more than 1.3% against the US dollar so far, on the verge of posting its biggest weekly gain since late June.

Bank of England

In line with expectations, the Bank of England decided on Thursday to cut interest rates by 25 basis points to a range of 4.00% — the lowest level since February 2023 — in an effort to support the recently slowing British economy.

The decision passed with 5 members voting in favor and 4 members voting to keep rates unchanged. This vote ran contrary to market expectations, which had forecast 8 members to vote for the cut and only 1 for keeping rates steady.

This marks the third rate cut this year and the fifth by the Bank of England since the beginning of its monetary policy easing cycle in August 2024.

The Bank of England said in a statement: the direct impact of US tariffs is less severe than previously expected, but the general uncertainty surrounding the tariffs continues to weigh on sentiment.

Andrew Bailey

Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said after Thursday’s meeting: interest rates remain on a downward path, but any future rate cuts must be implemented gradually and cautiously. Bailey added: it is important not to cut the bank rate too quickly or excessively.

UK Interest Rates

• Traders have scaled back their bets on the Bank of England easing interest rates, now expecting additional cuts of just 17 basis points this year.

• The pricing of the probability of a 25-basis-point interest rate cut by the Bank of England in the September meeting is currently stable below 25%.

The Japanese yen declined in Asian markets on Friday against a basket of major and minor currencies, moving away once again from the highest levels in two weeks against the US dollar, and heading toward incurring its first loss in the last three days, due to the release of bleak data on Japanese household spending during June.

This data, along with less aggressive remarks from political leaders in Japan, led to a decline in expectations of a Japanese interest rate hike in September, pending further comments and key statements from the world’s fourth-largest economy.

Price Overview

• Japanese yen exchange rate today: the dollar rose against the yen by 0.2% to ¥147.38, from today’s opening price at ¥147.11, and recorded the lowest level at ¥146.72.

• The yen had posted a gain of about 0.2% against the dollar at Thursday’s settlement, marking a second consecutive daily gain, approaching the highest level in two weeks at ¥146.62.

Bleak Data

Data released Friday in Tokyo showed that household spending in Japan rose by 1.3% year-on-year in June, below market expectations of a 2.8% increase, after recording a 4.7% rise in May.

The decline in consumer spending in Japan may pave the way for lower prices and a slowdown in the pace of inflation in the coming period. Undoubtedly, easing inflationary pressures on policymakers at the Bank of Japan reduces the chances of further Japanese interest rate hikes before the end of this year.

Japanese Comments

Ken Saito, a senior official in the ruling party, told Reuters that the Bank of Japan should be cautious about raising interest rates due to the expected impact of US tariffs on the fragile economy.

Japanese Interest Rates

• Following the above comments and data, the pricing of expectations for the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates by a quarter percentage point at the September meeting fell from 55% to 45%.

• Minutes from the June monetary policy meeting showed that some members of the Bank of Japan’s board said the central bank would consider resuming interest rate hikes if trade tensions eased.

• To reprice those expectations, investors are awaiting the release of more data on inflation, unemployment, and wage levels in Japan.

Corn futures climbed during Thursday trading on the Chicago Board of Trade, supported by improved export activity after the December contract held the key $4.00 level on Wednesday.

Contracts gained between 5 and 6.25 cents in mid-session, while the national average cash corn price on the CmdtyView platform rose by 5.75 cents to $3.6825 per bushel.

The US Department of Agriculture announced two private export sales: 106,680 metric tons of corn to Mexico and 105,000 metric tons to Guatemala, both scheduled for delivery in the 2025/2026 marketing year.

Export sales data showed 170,428 metric tons of old-crop corn sold, marking the second-lowest level of the season and falling short of expectations that ranged from 200,000 to 400,000 metric tons for the week ending July 31. However, new-crop sales exceeded forecasts of 1.3 to 2.5 million metric tons, reaching 3.16 million metric tons. This brought total sales for the 2025/2026 season to 11.777 million tons, the second-highest weekly level for this time of year since 2021/2022, which was driven by strong Chinese demand.

Meanwhile, Brazil exported 2.434 million metric tons of corn in July, down 31.51% from the same period last year, though still higher than June’s total. The decline was attributed to a slower second-crop harvest and the continued prioritization of soybean shipments in shipping schedules.

Corn

At the close, December corn futures rose 1.4% to $4.07 per bushel.

Soybeans

November soybean futures gained 1% to $9.93 per bushel.

Wheat

September wheat futures climbed 1.9% to $5.18 per bushel.

Ethereum has recently pulled back from the $3,900 level but is showing signs of resilience, as on-chain data reveals growing exchange outflows. This is typically seen as a bullish signal, suggesting that investors are withdrawing their ETH holdings with the intention of long-term storage.

Current price analysis indicates that as long as Ethereum holds above the $3,600 support zone, the bullish trend remains intact, with a near-term target around $4,000.

Ethereum’s underlying fundamentals also remain strong. Its Layer-2 ecosystem continues to expand, staking activity is on the rise, and institutional inflows are gradually increasing. Combined with technical patterns showing higher lows and confirmation from the Relative Strength Index (RSI), the overall outlook for Ethereum remains optimistic.

However, despite its strength, Ethereum is a well-established asset in the market. While its upside is real, it may be limited compared to smaller-cap altcoins. For investors seeking the fastest-growing cryptocurrencies of 2025, Ethereum is a solid long-term hold but may not offer the highest returns. This opens the door for other emerging assets to present more attractive short-term opportunities.

Meanwhile, President Trump announced late Wednesday the imposition of a 100% tariff on imported semiconductors, with exemptions for companies manufacturing within the United States.

“We will impose very large tariffs on chips and semiconductors,” Trump said Wednesday. “But the good news for companies like Apple is: if you manufacture in the United States or are fully committed to doing so, you won’t face any tariffs.”

Ethereum 

As of 21:15 GMT, Ethereum surged 5% on CoinMarketCap to trade at $3,857.8.