- UK currency declines– Business barometer softens
- Australian Dollar rallies across the board – Rising construction stats bolster ‘Aussie’
- New Zealand Dollar strong today – Milk price uptick comes with rising business confidence
- Australian manufacturing and GDP data incoming – UK house prices also out tomorrow
The Pound (GBP) has been a poor prospect against its peers recently, with falling business confidence resulting in an overall dip in Sterling exchange rates.
The Australian Dollar (AUD) has conversely climbed across the board, with supportive domestic data bolstering the appeal of the ‘Aussie’.
The New Zealand Dollar has also been a strong contender against the Pound, with gains stemming from a mostly positive domestic economic outlook.
GBP/AUD, GBP/NZD Soften as Lloyds Business Barometer Records Record-Low Business Confidence
Demand for the Pound has been almost universally low today, with recent movements consisting of -0.2% against the Hong Kong Dollar (GBP/HKD), -0.4% against the New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) and -0.8% against the Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD). Gains have consisted of 0.5% against the Egyptian Pound (GBP/EGP) and 0.6% against the Omani Rial (GBP/OMR).
The Pound’s current downtrend followed disappointing domestic data; the Lloyds business barometer for May. This recorded a drop from 38 points to 32 and closer analysis revealed that this result is the lowest on record since 2013.
In response to the report, Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking Senior Economist Hann-Ju Ho said:
‘Our May survey shows a second consecutive monthly fall in overall sentiment, suggesting that economic growth may slow further in the second quarter due to near-term economic risks’.
Australian Dollar and New Zealand Dollar Turn Bullish on Domestic Data
Both the Australian Dollar and New Zealand Dollar have been performing well today, with the ‘Aussie’ recording gains of 0.8% against the Pound (AUD/GBP) and 1.1% against the Chinese Yuan (AUD/CNY) and of 0.4% against the Pound (NZD/GBP) and the ‘Kiwi’ advancing 0.8% against the Chinese Yuan (NZD/CNY)r. Notably, the ‘Aussie’ has been stronger than the ‘Kiwi’, which has fallen by -0.3% in the pairing (NZD/AUD). In the case of the ‘Aussie’, this represents a significant improvement on the previous week.
The Australian Dollar’s advance has been caused by Australia’s April building approvals results, which rose from 2.9% to 3% on the month and from -5.4% to 0.7% on the year. Less supportive for the ‘Aussie’ was the Roy Morgan weekly consumer confidence index for May, which has dropped from 115.7 to 113.2.
Meanwhile, the New Zealand Dollar has been recently bolstered by NBNZ business confidence for May, which climbed from 6.2 to 11.3, though like Australia, this positivity has been marred by the ANZ activity outlook for May falling from 32.1 to 30.4.
Future GBP, AUD, NZD Forecast: Australian Manufacturing Stats, Q1 GDP Data Ahead
The next major data likely to impact the GBP/AUD exchange rate is Australia’s AiG performance of manufacturing index for May. Also out around that time will be Australia’s Q1 GDP printings, which have been forecast to rise on the quarter but dip on the year.
Tomorrow morning will bring New Zealand’s first piece of data in the form of annual QV house prices for May, although the later dairy auction results are expected to have a greater impact on NZD trading overall.
The next UK ecostats are Nationwide house price figures for May.
Current GBP, AUD, NZD Exchange Rates
The Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 2.0152 and the Australian Dollar to Pound Sterling (AUD/GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.4967 today.
The Pound Sterling to New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 2.1691 and the New Zealand Dollar to Pound Sterling (NZD/GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.4612 today.
The Australian Dollar to New Zealand Dollar (AUD/NZD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.0764 and the New Zealand Dollar to Australian Dollar (NZD/AUD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.9295 today.
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