The Pound Sterling to Euro (GBP/EUR) and Pound Sterling to Japanese Yen (GBP/JPY) exchange rates were all trading lower in Tuesday’s European session after the UK Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ecostat dropped below forecasts, while the Pound Sterling to Thai Baht (GBP/THB) and Pound Sterling to Swedish Krona (GBP/SEK) exchange rates were trending in a narrow range.
Pound Sterling to Swedish Krona (GBP/SEK) Exchange Rate Forecast
Meanwhile, the Swedish Krona softened against the Pound (SEK/GBP) early in Tuesday’s trading after the Swedish economy put on a mixed performance on Tuesday.
Swedish Business Confidence slipped from a positively revised 100.6 to hit 93.7 in April, while Consumer Confidence noted a smaller tumble from 100.4 to 97.1.
Meanwhile, Swedish Retail Sales bettered forecasts on Tuesday by recording 0.7% growth in March, allowing the annual ecostat to climb from a positively revised 4.4% to 4.6%. Economists had expected a slip to 3.4%.
The Swedish trade surplus climbed to 4.2 billion in March from the upwardly adjusted 3.8 billion in February.
The Swedish Krona to Euro (SEK/EUR) exchange rate tumbled on Tuesday’s data, allowing the Euro to hit 9.3800 versus the Krona (EUR/SEK).
Pound Sterling to Japanese Yen (GBP/JPY) Exchange Rate Forecast
Meanwhile, the Japanese Yen remained in a narrow range against a host of other majors after unfavourable Japanese data emerged. Japanese Retail Trade tumbled further in March to -9.7%, from the previous month’s -7.5%. Economists had been much more upbeat and expected a climb to -1.7%.
Meanwhile, Large Retailers’ Sales found itself contracting by -13.0% in March after February’s -10.9%. Experts had predicted the March ecostat would jump into growth territory at +1.3%.
Japanese Small Business Confidence also took a hit when it edged away from the 50.0 expansion benchmark. The March ecostat had resided extremely close to growth at 49.8, but April softened to 47.4.
However, there are other issues weighing on the Japanese Yen exchange rate, such as this week’s Fitch downgrade. The Yen softened against other majors after Fitch cut Japan’s A+ credit rating to A.
However, the Japanese Yen recovered against currency majors and industry experts are forecasting little long-term effects on the safe-haven asset.
Capital Economics economist Marcel Thieliant commented: ‘The Bank of Japan has a very aggressive bond buying programme which can offset a lot of other things. For the foreseeable future, I don’t think it has any practical consequences.’
Pound Sterling to Thai Baht (GBP/THB) Exchange Rate Forecast
The Pound Sterling to Thai Baht exchange rate softened on Tuesday after both Thai and UK data releases. Thailand’s exports declined for the third straight month in March as weak oil prices impacted the nation’s trading. Thai exports fell by 4.45% year-on-year in March and the Commerce Ministry has now downgraded its export growth forecast from 4.0% to 1.2% in 2015.
Secretary of the Commerce Ministry Chutima Bunyapraphasara commented: ‘The continued declines (in exports) were due to the lower shipments of oil products and gold.’
However, the Thai trade surplus rose slightly from $0.39 billion to $1.49 billion.
Wednesday could be another interesting day for the Thai Baht exchange rate with the release of the Bank of Thailand’s interest rate decision. Economists have forecast that the benchmark interest rate will remain at 1.7%.
Pound Sterling Exchange Rate Forecast: GBP/EUR, GBP/JPY, GBP/SEK, GBP/THB
The Pound Sterling exchange rate slid in Tuesday’s European session after the UK’s Gross Domestic Product ecostat recorded a decline from 3.0% to 2.4% in quarter one on the year. The figure doesn’t look good for the current conservative government so close to the UK general election and weak economic ecostats add further fuel to speculation that May 7th could see a messy election outcome.
Meanwhile, the Euro is still trading tentatively on the back of Greek negotiations; 49% of investors now fear that the Eurozone will begin to crumble in the near future, starting with a Grexit.
The Pound Sterling to Japanese Yen (GBP/JPY) exchange rate is trading at 183.5500. The Pound Sterling to Swedish Krona (GBP/SEK) exchange rate is trending in the region of 12.7988. The Pound Sterling to Thai Baht (GBP/THB) exchange rate is trading near 50.8610; the Pound Sterling to Euro (GBP/EUR) exchange rate is trending around 1.3828.
