The Pound Sterling to South African Rand (GBP/ZAR) exchange rate held relatively steady on Wednesday. This can be attributed to mixed results from British data and a slight downtick in South African private sector credit.
The Pound Sterling to South African Rand exchange rate is currently trending in the region of 17.5100.
With positive sentiment towards the Pound gradually dissolving thanks to negativity surrounding the contradictory Bank of England, the British currency has generally softened over the past few days. A complete absence of British data on Tuesday aided a Sterling downtrend against the majority of its most traded currency competitors.
The US Dollar, meanwhile, has softened in the build-up to the Federal Reserve interest rate decision. This has allowed emerging-market currencies like the South African Rand to establish a period of appreciation. Additionally, improved trader risk sentiment has allowed the Rand to gain against many of its other major peers.
The Pound Sterling to South African Rand exchange rate has dropped to a low today of 17.4310.
Wednesday’s British data has produced mixed results, although the picture as a whole errs towards negativity. Monthly Money Supply declined from 0.3% to -0.7%, and the yearly figure dropped from -1.4% to -2.5%. Mortgage Approvals failed to meet with the median market forecast of 62,000, having fallen from 64,100 to 61,300. Net Consumer Credit, however, avoided declining as much as the market consensus of a drop from 1.0 billion to 0.8 billion, with the actual result hitting 0.9 billion. Net lending Securities on Dwellings fell further than expectations from 2.2 billion to 1.8 billion.
When commenting on the decline in British Mortgage Approvals UK economist Paul Hollingsworth of Capital Economics said it was clear that the heat in the market was ‘dissipating quickly’. Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said that evidence of at least a ‘temporary housing market slowdown is becoming more pervasive.’
A solitary South African economic data publication has printed negatively on Wednesday. Year-on-year Private Sector Credit dropped from 8.78% to 8.74% despite the median market forecast of a rise to 8.99%.
Pound to South African Rand Forecast to Decline
With mounting speculation that the Federal Reserve will be dovish in its policy statement, the South African Rand has the potential to surge thanks to a softer US Dollar.
Sterling, meanwhile, is likely to soften as traders digest the less-than-ideal mortgage data. Also a delay to a Fed rate hike could ease pressure on the Bank of England to raise domestic borrowing costs, which will likely compound negative sentiment towards the institution, and therefore the Pound.
The Pound Sterling to South African Rand exchange rate has reached a high today of 17.5570.
South African Rand (ZAR) Exchange Rates
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
South African Rand,
,US Dollar,0.0920,
South African Rand,,Euro,0.0722,
South African Rand,,Pound,0.0571,
South African Rand,,Australian Dollar,0.1036,
US Dollar,,South African Rand,10.8618,
Euro,,South African Rand,13.8316,
Pound Sterling,,South African Rand,17.5064,
Australian Dollar,,South African Rand,9.6529,
[/table]
