The Pound Sterling to Indian Rupee exchange rate recovered some of its recent losses on Tuesday, advancing by over 0.6% in response to some positive UK news.
While emerging-market currencies like the Rupee were struggling amid renewed expectations of a Federal Reserve interest rate hike taking place in the near future, the Pound gained on several of its most-traded currency counterparts.
Yesterday Sterling plummeted against almost all of its peers as a poll conducted by YouGov indicated that the Scottish referendum could end in the dissolution of the United Kingdom. However, the currency’s losses were slightly stymied as various industry experts asserted that Unionists are still likely to prevail when the referendum is held next week.
The Pound also showed some strength following the release of the British Retail Consortium’s Like-for-Like sales report.
The data showed that a sharp rise in the sale of clothing and footwear helped retail sales climb by 1.3% on a year-on-year basis in August, a much greater increase than the 0.3% annual gain anticipated. This result also wiped out the decline of -0.3% registered in July.
According to industry expert David McCorquodale; ‘Overall, it has been a very successful summer for non-food retailers, placing them on a firm footing for the autumn/winter trading period in the run-up to Christmas. The food sector remains in a state of disruption with the share of the ‘big four’ being challenged on many fronts after a 15-year reign.’
The Pound Sterling to Indian Rupee exchange rate hit a low of 100.3000.
The Rupee, meanwhile softened by 0.6% against the Pound and fell by the most for a week against the US Dollar – shedding 0.3% to hit a low of 60.4525.
As highlighted by currency analyst Anindya Banerjee; ‘We are seeing a spill-over effect of the Dollar’s strength globally. That said, we expect the Rupee to find support from foreign inflows into Indian assets, which should continue as other central banks around the world offer monetary stimulus.’
Further GBP/INR gains were registered as UK industrial production was shown to have increased by more-than-forecast in July on both a month-on-month and year-on-year basis.
Industrial production climbed by 0.5% on the month (beating the 0.2% forecast) and was 1.7% higher on the year.
Pound Sterling to Indian Rupee Exchange Rate Forecast
If today’s UK GDP estimate for August, due to be released by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research at 15:00 GMT, comes in above expected levels the Pound could extend gains against peers like the Rupee and Euro.
Tomorrow several high-profile Bank of England policymakers (including Governor Mark Carney, David Miles, Martin Weale and Nemat Shafik) are due to testify on the August inflation report tomorrow.
The comments issued by these influential BoE representatives could have a notable impact on the Pound’s performance tomorrow and may inspire Pound to Indian Rupee (GBP/INR) volatility.
UPDATE
The Pound to Rupee (GBP/INR) exchange rate continued trending in a slightly stronger position on Wednesday as the prospect of the Federal Reserve bringing forward its timeline for increasing interest rates kept emerging-market assets like the Rupee depressed.
Some Pound strength was also being derived from Tuesday’s better-than-expected industrial production report and hopes that the Scottish referrendum won’t end with a division of the United Kingdom.
With no Indian economic data scheduled for publication in the hours ahead, any movement in the Pound to Rupee exchange rate is likely to be the result of today’s testimony of Bank of England policymakers on the UK inflation report.
Indian Rupee (INR) Exchange Rates
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
Pound Sterling,
,Indian Rupee, 97.6550,
US Dollar,,Indian Rupee,60.6300,
Euro,,Indian Rupee,78.0900,
Australian Dollar,,Indian Rupee,56.2230,
New Zealand Dollar,,Indian Rupee,50.1210,
[/table]
