- Sporadic GBP movements stem from diverse mix of election results
- Sole UK domestic data brings slide in car registrations
- Euro generally positive after retail PMI falls
- Further UK elections results expected into weekend
For the most part, the Pound (GBP) has been stable against its peers today, although domestic data in general has been hard to come by and generally poor in outcome.
The Euro (EUR) has similarly been positive overall, also in the face of scant and not entirely supportive domestic data.
UK Economic News: Sterling (GBP) Appreciates in Aftermath of PMI Printings
The Pound has managed to retain its gains against peers in a continuing irregular reaction to a string of disappointing PMI results spread over the week.
In a hat trick of negativity, 3-year lows were recorded for the PMIs concerning construction, manufacturing and services, although the Pound unusually appreciated in the wake of yesterday’s poor services score, potentially because a contraction result was not recorded.
Today’s sole UK economic announcement has concerned new car registrations on the year in April; these have fallen from a previous 5.3% to 4.4%.
In response to the news, Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) Chief Executive Mike Hawes stated:
‘Buyers continue to capitalise on attractive finance deals…[but there will be] political and economic uncertainty in the coming months’.
The Pound has slipped by -0.2% against the Euro (GBP/EUR) today but has made gains of 1.2% against the Russian Ruble (GBP/RUB) and 1.5% against the Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD).
Euro (EUR) Remains Positive in the Face of Poor PMI Results
The single currency (EUR) has trended positively against its peers for the most part today, although the morning’s domestic data has hardly facilitated this movement.
Gains for the single currency have included 0.9% against the New Zealand Dollar (EUR/NZD) and 1.6% against the Australian Dollar (EUR/AUD), while the only real loss has been by -0.2% against the Japanese Yen (EUR/JPY).
Economic announcements from the Eurozone have consisted of the German construction and German and Eurozone retail PMIs for April, all of which have fallen on previous printings.
Future GBP, EUR Forecast: UK Trade Balance, Production and BoE Decision due Next Week
For the remainder of the day, the only factor likely to influence the appeal of the Pound will be the continued announcement of UK election results, covering a variety of areas.
More concretely, next week’s UK ecostats will include Tuesday’s visible trade balance results for March, Wednesday’s industrial and manufacturing production printings for the same month and Thursday’s freeze-predicted Bank of England (BoE) interest rate decision.
On the Eurozone side of announcements, Monday will bring the Sentix score for investor confidence in May, Tuesday the OECD economic outlook and Friday the arrival of preliminary German and Eurozone GDP printings for the first quarter.
Current GBP, EUR Exchange Rates
The Pound Sterling to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.2691 and the Euro to Pound Sterling (EUR/GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.7880 today.
