The Pound Sterling (GBP) gains against its major peers on Thursday after the release of the United Kingdom (UK) monthly Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and factory data for August. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the economy grew by 0.1%, as expected, at the same pace as it contracted in July.
The Industrial Production rose by 0.4% on a monthly basis, faster than estimates of 0.2%. In July, it declined by 0.4%. Year-on-year, the Industrial Production fell at a faster pace of 0.7%, compared to estimates of 0.6% and a 0.1% decline seen in July.
Meanwhile, the Manufacturing Production grew at a faster pace of 0.7% in the same month against estimates of 0.4%. In July, output in the manufacturing sector declined by 1.1%.
Signs of recovery in the manufacturing sector and a slight Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth are expected to offer some relief to the UK government. However, the relief is expected to remain short-lived as the government prepares to unveil the Autumn Budget next month, in which it is expected to raise taxes to fund spending on day-to-day operations.
On the monetary policy front, the speculation for more interest rate cuts by the Bank of England (BoE) in the remaining year has increased amid souring job market conditions and hopes that price pressures have peaked for now.
This week, the ILO Unemployment Rate for the three-months ending August accelerated to 4.8% from 4.7%. On the inflation front, the BoE stated in its policy meeting last month that price pressures would peak around 4% in September.
Pound Sterling Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | -0.12% | -0.29% | 0.15% | -0.02% | 0.04% | -0.21% | -0.03% | |
| EUR | 0.12% | -0.16% | 0.25% | 0.11% | 0.10% | -0.10% | 0.07% | |
| GBP | 0.29% | 0.16% | 0.49% | 0.27% | 0.23% | 0.06% | 0.25% | |
| JPY | -0.15% | -0.25% | -0.49% | -0.14% | -0.05% | -0.37% | -0.17% | |
| CAD | 0.02% | -0.11% | -0.27% | 0.14% | 0.07% | -0.21% | -0.03% | |
| AUD | -0.04% | -0.10% | -0.23% | 0.05% | -0.07% | -0.19% | -0.15% | |
| NZD | 0.21% | 0.10% | -0.06% | 0.37% | 0.21% | 0.19% | 0.19% | |
| CHF | 0.03% | -0.07% | -0.25% | 0.17% | 0.03% | 0.15% | -0.19% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the British Pound from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent GBP (base)/USD (quote).
Daily digest market movers: Pound Sterling gains against US Dollar
- The Pound Sterling rises to near 1.3440 against the US Dollar (USD) after the release of the UK GDP data. The strength in the GBP/USD pair is contributed by the UK data release and weakness in the US Dollar.
- At the time of writing, the US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, trades close to a fresh weekly low near 98.40 posted earlier in the day.
- The Greenback faces selling pressure from a series of headwinds, especially firm Federal Reserve (Fed) dovish bets and ongoing trade frictions between the United States (US) and China.
- Traders remain increasingly confident that the Fed will cut interest rates further this year as downside risks to the labor market have escalated. According to the CME FedWatch tool, traders see a 94.6% that the Fed will reduce interest rates by 50 basis points (bps) to 3.50%-3.75% in the remaining year.
- Meanwhile, Fed Governor Michelle Bowman has also acknowledged labor market risks and has supported two more interest rate cuts this year. “I continue to see two more cuts before the end of this year,” Bowman said on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
- On the global front, US President Donald Trump has signaled that he will persuade China to halt buying Oil from Russia. This week, trade tensions between the two nations escalated after Trump threatened to impose additional 100% tariffs on Beijing, which will come into effect in early November. However, market experts remain confident that Washington might roll back its tariff decision after a meeting between Trump and Chinese leader XI Jinping scheduled later this month in South Korea.
Technical Analysis: Pound Sterling struggles near 20-day EMA
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The Pound Sterling trades calmly near 1.3420 against the US Dollar on Thursday. The GBP/USD pair struggles to extend its recovery above the 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) around 1.3419.
The outlook for the Cable remains uncertain amid a Head and Shoulder chart pattern on a daily timeframe.
The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) holds above 40.00. A fresh bearish momentum would emerge if the RSI falls below that level.
Looking down, the August 1 low of 1.3140 will act as a key support zone. On the upside, the psychological level of 1.3500 will act as a key barrier.
Economic Indicator
Gross Domestic Product (MoM)
The Gross Domestic Product (GDP), released by the Office for National Statistics on a monthly and quarterly basis, is a measure of the total value of all goods and services produced in the UK during a given period. The GDP is considered as the main measure of UK economic activity. The MoM reading compares economic activity in the reference month to the previous month. Generally, a rise in this indicator is bullish for the Pound Sterling (GBP), while a low reading is seen as bearish.