The Pound Sterling to South African Rand (GBP/ZAR) exchange rate declined by more than 1.0% during the European session as the Pound fell dramatically against the majority of its most traded currency counterparts following disappointing UK news.
The Pound dipped by over 0.7% against the Euro and more than 0.5% against the US Dollar after the release of the UK’s employment data.
Although the British jobless rate declined to 6.4%, as anticipated, UK wage growth remained well below the rate of inflation – massively reducing the odds of a Bank of England rate hike taking place before 2015.
According to industry expert John Philpott; ‘Good news for the jobless is being offset by ever slimmer pickings for those already in work, giving the UK labour market a distinctly bittersweet flavour. This doesn’t look like a labour market that needs an interest rate hike to cool it down but instead one where workers appear desperate for a pay hike.’
The Pound Sterling to South African Rand (GBP/ZAR) exchange rate hit a low of 17.7910.
The Pound Sterling to South African Rand exchange rate was little-changed following the publication of South Africa’s retail sales figures.
Sales flat-lined in June on a year-on-year basis – falling well short of economists’ expectations for a sales gain of 2.0% and easing from a revised increase of 2.6% in May.
Month-on-month sales slipped by 0.4%, with drops in appliances and furniture leading the decline.
Before the retail sales report was published, currency trader Oliver Alwar commented; ‘The Rand remains well subdued at the moment, confined to ever tighter intra-day ranges.’
The South African Rand was able to advance on the US Dollar during the North American session as Advance Retail Sales figures for the US showed surprising stagnation in July. A modest 0.2% increase had been expected.
Retail sales less autos were up just 0.1% in July, far short of the 0.4% increase anticipated.
Pound to South African Rand (GBP/ZAR) Exchange Rate Forecast
Tomorrow volatility in the Pound Sterling to South African Rand exchange rate could be caused by South Africa’s Mining Production report.
Before the weekend further GBP to ZAR movement may be triggered by the RICS House Price Balance report and the UK’s second quarter growth data.
US news and global economic developments will also be of interest.
The Pound Sterling to South African Rand exchange rate hit a high of 17.9180.
Pound to South African Rand Extends Losses
Yesterday saw the Pound fall against all of its major peers following a combination of poor labour market data and a dovish Bank of England Inflation Report.
With very little in the way of UK domestic data; today has seen Sterling continue to trend poorly against most other currencies. This is likely to remain so until tomorrows UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) results are released. A negative result could spell disaster in terms of UK economic standing.
Today saw a fractional improvement for South African Mining Production; however it is still in negative figures and shouldn’t have a huge impact on the South African Rand.
South African Rand (ZAR) Exchange Rates
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
Pound Sterling,
,South African Rand,17.6752,
Euro,,South African Rand,14.1691,
US Dollar,,South African Rand,10.6165,
Australian Dollar,,South African Rand,9.8569,
New Zealand Dollar,,South African Rand,8.9839,
Canadian Dollar,,South African Rand,9.7164,
[/table]
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