- GBP rises in spite of day’s news – UK inflation falls in April
- Treasury offers positive spin on CPI data – claims of earnings outpacing costs
- New Zealand Dollar steady after inflation forecast – RBNZ predicts minor rise
- Trio of UK releases due in near-term – National earnings, unemployment and claims stats out soon
The Pound has been a resilient option for investors today, having risen against a number of peers under what can be regarded as difficult circumstances.
The New Zealand Dollar has also been relatively strong, potentially due to recent slips in the value of the US Dollar.
UK Economic News: Falling UK Inflation Rate Prompts Fresh Worries about Bank of England (BoE) Interest Rate Outlook
The Pound has been generally positive against its exchange rate peers today, in spite of being dealt a debilitating blow by earlier national inflation rate data. Although declines in the various forms of the rate had been forecast, the actual outcomes were worse than expected in all cases.
As well as reiterating its view that the UK is better off in the European Union, the Treasury has responded to the news by saying:
‘Today’s inflation figure continues the trend we’ve seen over the past year. Pay is growing faster than prices, boosting families’ spending power.’
It is worth noting that this statement was in contradiction to the most recent UK average weekly earnings growth results, which have shown a dip from 2.1% to 1.8%.
Sterling gains for the day have included a slight increase against the New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD), a 0.2% advance against the Euro (GBP/EUR) and a greater rise of 0.6% against the Canadian Dollar (GBP/CAD).
New Zealand Dollar has Diverse Day on Latest RBNZ Forecasts
The ‘Kiwi’ has made gains overall against the competition today, recovering from the recent Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) inflation expectation announcement for the next 2 years.
The adjustment of the prediction from 1.63% to 1.64% disappointed investors, who noted that the RBNZ cut rates almost immediately in response to the previously poor inflation expectation. However, after weakening during the morning, the Kiwi was able to make a recovery towards the close of trade.
Gains have been recorded of 0.2% against the Chinese Yuan (GBP/CNY) and the Euro (GBP/EUR), along with a greater advance of 0.5% against the Canadian Dollar (NZD/CAD).
Future GBP, NZD Forecast: New Zealand PPIs Due Tonight, UK Data Set Out in the Morning
The near-future is set to bring economic announcements from the UK and New Zealand, although the former country is expected to have the lion’s share of data releases, both in terms of quantity and quality.
The big news to watch out for will be tomorrow morning’s UK unemployment claims for April and earnings and unemployment rate figures for March.
The actual claimant count rate is expected to remain at 2.1%, though a slowdown in the jobless claims change from 6.7k to 4.5k has been forecast. With earnings, the average weekly field is expected to drop while, excluding bonuses, weekly earnings are conversely expected to rise.
Finally, the UK unemployment rate has been forecast to stay put at 5.1%.
On New Zealand’s side of the pairing, producer price data concerning inputs and outputs for the first quarter is due tonight, while private comments are expected to be made by Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) Governor Graham Wheeler early tomorrow morning.
Current GBP, NZD Exchange Rates
The Pound Sterling to New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 2.1295 and the New Zealand Dollar to Pound Sterling (NZD/GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.4698 today.
Comments are closed.