The market is waiting for retail sales in United Kingdom
The pound rose in the European market on Thursday against a basket of global currencies, resuming gains that were temporarily halted in the previous session against the US dollar, about to touch a two-week high, thanks to data that showed the resilience of the British economy during the second quarter of this year.
That data slowed the prospects of the Bank of England cutting British interest rates in September, pending the release of retail sales data in United Kingdom on Friday.
Read also:Sterling resumes gains thanks to resilient British economy
Price overview
- The exchange rate of the British pound today: The pound rose against the dollar by about 0.25% to ($ 1.2858), from the opening price of trading at ($ 1.2829), and recorded the lowest level today at ($ 1.2819).
- The pound ended Wednesday’s trading down 0.3% against the dollar, in the first loss in the last six days, within the corrections from a two-week high of $ 1.2873.
- Beyond the profit-taking sell-off, sterling levels fell on data showing easing inflationary pressures on Bank of England policymakers.
British Growth
The Office for National Statistics said in United Kingdom on Thursday that gross domestic product rose 0.6% during the second quarter, slightly below 0.7% growth in the first quarter, but in line with expectationِs.
That data shows that UKِ economic growth remains at the upper end of the range of typical results from the pre- and post-coronavirus periods.
Capital Economics analyst Ashley Webb said of the data: “On the sidelines, this may give the Bank of England some reassurance that the recent strength of activity will not prevent further declines in services inflation.
Thursday’s GDP data is the latest in a growing series of positive economic reports released from United Kingdom, awaiting retail sales data on Friday.
Following the above data, the chances of the Bank of England cutting British interest rates fell by about 25 points at next September’s meeting from 47% to 42%.
But markets still expect British interest rate cuts of around 50 basis points before the end of this year.
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