The Pound Sterling (GBP) gains against its peers, except antipodeans, on Wednesday. The British currency attracts bids even as United Kingdom (UK) fiscal risks have resurfaced, following the government borrowings report from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday.
The report showed that the administration raised the second-highest amount of funds since 1993 in order to mitigate the increase in debt costs, which accelerated due to higher inflation. Mounting UK borrowings pave the way for tax increases by the administration in its upcoming Autumn Statement.
Meanwhile, investors await the release of preliminary S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data of July on Thursday. Investors will closely monitor the PMI data as it will indicate whether the hiring trend in the United Kingdom (UK) private sector is still sluggish. Private employers slowed down their hiring trend to offset the rising cost of social security schemes.
Economists expect the Composite PMI to come in at 51.9 against 52.0 in June, suggesting that the overall business activity continued to expand, but at a moderate pace.
On the monetary policy front, market experts are increasingly confident that the Bank of England (BoE) will cut interest rates at its August monetary policy meeting. Brokerage houses including Bank of America (BofA) Global Research, Citigroup, Morgan Stanley, and Goldman Sachs have anticipated a 25 basis points (bps) interest rate reduction in the policy meeting next month.
The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the strongest against the Euro.
USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
USD | 0.17% | -0.09% | -0.22% | -0.19% | -0.63% | -0.91% | -0.02% | |
EUR | -0.17% | -0.25% | -0.38% | -0.35% | -0.81% | -1.08% | -0.19% | |
GBP | 0.09% | 0.25% | -0.08% | -0.10% | -0.56% | -0.82% | 0.12% | |
JPY | 0.22% | 0.38% | 0.08% | 0.02% | -0.40% | -0.60% | 0.20% | |
CAD | 0.19% | 0.35% | 0.10% | -0.02% | -0.43% | -0.51% | 0.19% | |
AUD | 0.63% | 0.81% | 0.56% | 0.40% | 0.43% | -0.26% | 0.67% | |
NZD | 0.91% | 1.08% | 0.82% | 0.60% | 0.51% | 0.26% | 0.94% | |
CHF | 0.02% | 0.19% | -0.12% | -0.20% | -0.19% | -0.67% | -0.94% |
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).
The Pound Sterling trades close to Tuesday’s high above 1.3500 against the US Dollar on Wednesday. The GBP/USD pair strives to return above the 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) close to 1.3520. The near-term trend of the pair will turn bullish if it manages to do so.
The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) rebounds to near 50.00, indicating indecision among investors and buying interest at lows.
Looking down, the May 12 low of 1.3140 will act as a key support zone. On the upside, the July 1 high around 1.3790 will act as a key barrier.