GBP news

The GBP/USD pair declined sharply as the market reacted to the new talks on Brexit and Boris Johnson strategy to reopen the economy. Third round of Brexit talks resume The third round of Brexit talks started today as the European Union and the UK attempts to create the region’s free trade agreement. The market believes that the transition period will end without a deal because of the key differences that started to emerge even before the negotiat...

The GBP/USD pair roseafter the Bank of England (BOE) delivered its interest rate decision. The market is also reacting to a slew of weak economic data from the UK. BOE interest rate decision The BOE became the fifth major central bank to release its interest rate decision after the BOJ, Fed, ECB, and RBA. As with the previous banks, the BOE decided to leave rates at the record low of 0.1% as most analysts polled by Reuters were expecting. The ban...

The GBP/USD pair declinedafter Markit released disappointing construction, services, and composite PMI data from the UK. UK services PMI decline According to Markit, business activity in the services sector declined to a record low of 13.4 in April. This was slightly higher than the previously-released flash PMI number of 12.2. This unprecedented decline happened because small number of essential service companies opened in April. As such, some i...

The GBP/USD pair is at a critical level as bearish bets on the British pound rise. The pair ended the week at 1.2500, which is an important psychological and support level. Investors are increasingly bearish on British pound Most investors and hedge fund managers have turned bearish against the sterling, according to the latest data by the CFTC. The data showed that the net positioning of “non-commercial” participants in the futures market droppe...

The GBP/USD pair dropped slightly after the Office of National Statistics (ONS) released disappointing March retail sales numbers. British pound falls after disappointing UK retail sales data UK March retail sales disappoint The headline retail sales in the UK declined by a record 5.1% in March according to a new worrisome report by the ONS. This was worse than the 4.7% that analysts polled by Bloomberg were expecting. At the peak of the last fin...

The GBP/USD pair declinedslightly as the market reacted to the record low manufacturing and services PMI data from Markit. GBP/USD falls after weak manufacturing and services PMI data GBP/USD falls as PMI drops again The manufacturing sector has been significantly affected by the ongoing shutdowns in the UK. Many businesses have closed shop as they comply to the government social-distancing policies. As a result, the GBP/USD pair has dropped by a...

The GBP/USD rose after the Office of National Statistics (ONS) released consumer price data for March. The data showed that GBP/USD rises after CPI data UK March CPI data Consumer prices rose in March, according the ONS. The headline CPI rose by an annual rate of 1.5 per cent, which was slightly lower than the 1.7 per cent gain in February. Economists polled by Bloomberg expected the CPI to rise by 1.5 per cent. The CPI rose by 0.3 per cent on a...

The GBP/USD pair declined in early trading as investors digested the latest jobs numbers from the ONS. Investors are also focusing on the virtual Brexit talks that started yesterday. GBP/USD falls on disappointing jobs data UK February jobs numbers Data from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) showed that the labour market in the UK was relatively stable before the coronavirus pandemic. The unemployment rate in February rose to 4.0% from the...

The GBP/USD rally paused today after the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned of the current lockdown. The office said that the economy would shrink by 35 per cent if the lockdown remained for three months. It also said that the country’s borrowing would increase by between £218 billion and £273 billion in the next financial year. The organisation attributed the downgrade to lower tax collections and increased government...

The GBP/USD pair rose slightly as the market reacted to the rising number of coronavirus infections and deaths. In the UK, the number of confirmed infections rose to more than 84k while deaths crossed the 10,000 mark. GBP/USD pair rises slightly UK coronavirus infections rise The number of people infected and dying from the coronavirus illness has continued to rise in the UK, and the situation could get worse. According to Sir Jeremy Farrar, the...

The British pound rose against the euro and the US dollar as the market ignored news that Boris Johnson’s health was deteriorating. The prime minister, who was diagnosed with Coronavirus two weeks ago, is in an intensive care unit of a London hospital. While he is alert, government business is being carried out by Dominic Raab, the Foreign Secretary. The British pound index, which measures the strength of the pound against other currencies...

The British pound rose against the US dollar as the market reacted to new data on Coronavirus. The number of infections in some European countries like Spain and Italy has started to fall. The market also reacted to the UK construction PMI data from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing Managers (CIPS) and a new report on UK auto sales.British pound rises against the dollarUK construction PMI fallsThe data showed that the UK construction PMI drop...

The British pound declined after a data from Markit showed that activity in the services sector declined to a record low in March. The UK services PMI declined to 34.5, which is the lowest number recorded since the survey started in March. The number was lower than the previously released flash PMI number of 35.7 and the February reading of 53.2. Additionally, the UK composite PMI dropped to 36.0 from the previous 53.0. British pound falls after...

The British pound index edged lower as investors started to worry about Coronavirus contagion risks after UK companies started going into administration. BrightHouse, a rent-to-own retailer went into administration a few hours after Italian restaurant, Carluccio’s filed for bankruptcy. The market is concerned that these bankruptcies will continue as the country remains in lockdown. This is because while most retailers are not operating, the...

Positive UK mortgage data The British pound pared back earlier losses against the US dollar after the Bank of England (BOE) released positive February mortgage data. The data showed that mortgage approvals rose to 73,500 in February. This was higher than the estimated 68.21k and the previous 71.34k. The number was also the highest it has been since 2014. Meanwhile, the number of mortgages reapprovals rose to 53,400 while the net mortgage borrowin...

UK’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted in favor of keeping the official bank rate steady at 0.10% on Thursday. The ongoing Coronavirus pandemic that pushed the government into ordering a countrywide lockdown to minimize the fast-transmission of COVID-19 is weighing heavily on the UK’s economy that is forecast to contract sharply this year. The Bank of England (BoE) said on Thursday that in order to protect the economy against the...

The UK’s Office for National Statistics released its monthly report on retail sales in February on Thursday. The data showed the British retail sector to have performed the weakest in around 7 years in February. Retailers expect an even steeper decline in March as the broader impact of Coronavirus appears in the data. The Statistics department had announced a 0.9% growth in January (year over year). Sales volumes in February, however, were...