The Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate slipped during the Australasian session even as the Westpac Consumer Confidence Index fell by 5.7%.
Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) Exchange Rate Softens as ‘Aussie’ Benefits from Offshore Trading
On Tuesday the Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (GBP/USD) pared some of its recent gains as a result of disappointing UK manufacturing/industrial production data.
The Pound was little-changed after NIESR’s GDP estimate for November came in at 0.7%.
During Wednesday’s Australasian session offshore trading gave the Australian Dollar a boost and the Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate declined by 0.2%.
The GBP/AUD pairing held declines even as Australia’s Westpac Consumer Confidence index fell from 96.6 to 91.1 in December.
Australia’s home loans report was more positive, showing an increase of 0.3% on the month in October. Economists had anticipated an increase of 0.1%.
If today’s UK trade data shows a narrowing in the deficit the GBP/AUD exchange rate could advance before the close of the European session.
Earlier…
The Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar exchange rate continued trading bullishly overnight, posting an additional 0.4% gain in response to several disappointing Australian reports.
GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Touches 1.9020
During the Australasian session the Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar exchange rate advanced by over 0.4% following the publication of Australia’s Roy Morgan Weekly Consumer Confidence index and the National Australia Bank’s Business Conditions/Confidence reports.
The confidence index fell from 113.9 to 110.4 in the week ending December 7th.
Similarly, the NAB Business Conditions measure slid from 13 to 5 and the Business Confidence gauge dropped from 5 to 1 in November.
Further GBP/AUD movement could occur in the hours ahead following the release of the UK’s Industrial Production/Manufacturing Production figures.
Earlier…
The Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate advanced by around 0.5% on Monday as investors ditched the ‘Aussie’ following the publication of a disappointing trade data for China.
GBP/AUD Exchange Rate Climbs as Chinese Imports Fall
The Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate was able to climb to a high of 1.8852 during the Australasian session as the South Pacific currency fell across the board.
The Australian Dollar came under considerable pressure as trade figures for China (Australia’s biggest trading partner) caused concern regarding the nation’s economic outlook.
The -6.7% drop in imports was particularly concerning as a year-on-year increase of 4.0% had been anticipated.
Exports climbed by 4.7%, almost half the 8.0% increase expected.
The data saw one currency strategist note; ‘Despite another record surplus [for China] the details paint a grim picture with slower export growth and a contraction in commodity imports in volume terms.’
Similarly, a representative from Credit Agricole observed; ‘This means that pressure will rise on the government to do more to stimulate growth. We expect a reserve requirement ratio cut in December, introduction of reverse repos this week, and another rate cut in the first quarter. The Yuan should rise further on the data.’
Pound Sterling (GBP) Exchange Rate Supported by BoE Hints
The Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (AUD/GBP) exchange rate was also bolstered by the Bank of England’s (BoE) quarterly bulletin.
The central bank intimated that UK consumers could withstand gradual interest rate increases.
In its stress test of the eight largest lenders in the UK, the BoE also implied that borrowing costs could be hiked from 0.5% to 4.0% before the end of next year. In the view of economist Philip Shaw; ‘The guarded words indicate there’s always a risk, no matter how small, that inflation indicators begin to strengthen and in which case the committee would have to be more aggressive on interest rates.’
An improvement in the UK’s Lloyds Employment Confidence Index also gave Sterling a boost.
Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) Exchange Rate Forecast
Later today the Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate could fluctuate in response to a speech to be given by the Bank of England’s Martin Weale.
Hawkish remarks would boost the Pound whilst dovish remarks could cause some softening in the Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate.
Australian Dollar (AUD) Exchange Rates
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
Australian Dollar,
,US Dollar,0.8294,
Australian Dollar,,Euro,0.6756,
Australian Dollar,,Pound,0.5308,
Australian Dollar,,New Zealand Dollar,1.0847,
US Dollar,,Australian Dollar,1.2053,
Euro,,Australian Dollar,1.4796,
Pound Sterling,,Australian Dollar,1.8831,
New Zealand Dollar,,Australian Dollar,0.9213,
[/table]
