The Pound Sterling (GBP) faces selling pressure against its major currency peers on Friday after the release of the UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and factory data for July. The United Kingdom (UK) Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that the economy remained stagnant in July, as expected, after rising by 0.4% in June.
Growing UK economic concerns are likely to force traders to raise bets supporting more interest rate cuts by the Bank of England (BoE) in the remainder of the year. Currently, there is a 33% chance that the BoE will reduce borrowing rates one more time this year, according to Reuters.
For fresh cues on the interest rate outlook, investors will pay close attention to the BoE’s monetary policy announcement on Thursday, in which the central bank is expected to keep borrowing rates steady at 4%. In its August monetary policy, the BoE lowered interest rates by 25 basis points (bps) and guided a “gradual and careful” monetary expansion guidance.
Meanwhile, month-on-month Manufacturing Production has declined by 1.3%, while it was expected to remain flat after rising by 0.5% in June. The Industrial Production has contracted by 0.9% MoM, which was also expected to remain flat.
The next key trigger for the Pound Sterling will be the employment data for the three months ending in July, which will be released on Tuesday.
The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the weakest against the US Dollar.
USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
USD | 0.13% | 0.27% | 0.50% | 0.06% | 0.14% | 0.38% | 0.25% | |
EUR | -0.13% | 0.15% | 0.36% | -0.05% | 0.03% | 0.27% | 0.13% | |
GBP | -0.27% | -0.15% | 0.22% | -0.22% | -0.16% | 0.12% | -0.02% | |
JPY | -0.50% | -0.36% | -0.22% | -0.43% | -0.36% | -0.16% | -0.29% | |
CAD | -0.06% | 0.05% | 0.22% | 0.43% | 0.12% | 0.34% | 0.19% | |
AUD | -0.14% | -0.03% | 0.16% | 0.36% | -0.12% | 0.28% | 0.10% | |
NZD | -0.38% | -0.27% | -0.12% | 0.16% | -0.34% | -0.28% | -0.14% | |
CHF | -0.25% | -0.13% | 0.02% | 0.29% | -0.19% | -0.10% | 0.14% |
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 retraces to near 1.3550 against the US Dollar on Friday. The near-term trend of the Cable remains sideways as it trades close to the 20-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA), which is around 1.3487.
The GBP/USD pair trades inside the Ascending Triangle pattern, which indicates indecisiveness among investors. The horizontal resistance of the above-mentioned chart pattern is plotted from the July 23 high around 1.3585, while the upward-sloping border is placed from the August 1 low near 1.3140.
The 14-day Relative Strength Index (RSI) oscillates inside the 40.00-60.00 range, indicating a sideways trend.
Looking down, the August 1 low of 1.3140 will act as a key support zone. On the upside, the July 1 high near 1.3800 will act as a key barrier.