Pound Rises Slightly After U.K. Q2 GDP Expands
August 15 2024 - 2:31AM
RTTF2
The British pound strengthened slightly against other major
currencies in the European session on Thursday, after the U.K.
economy expanded again in the second quarter but the pace of growth
moderated slightly due to the contractions in industrial and
construction output.
Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the
real gross domestic product grew 0.6 percent in the three months to
June, following the 0.7 percent expansion seen in the first
quarter. Growth came in line with expectations.
The quarterly growth was driven by the widespread improvement in
the services sector. In the second quarter, services output moved
up 0.8 percent while, industrial and construction output dropped
0.1 percent each.
On a yearly basis, the economy expanded 0.9 percent in the
second quarter as expected.
The European stock markets traded higher, as signs of slowing
inflation in the U.S. bolstered the case for the Federal Reserve to
start cutting interest rates in September.
Investors shrugged off mixed economic activity data from China
and eyed U.S. reports on weekly jobless claims, retail sales and
industrial production later in the day for more insights about the
health of the world's largest economy.
In the European trading today, the pound rose to 0.8564 against
the euro and 1.2858 against the U.S. dollar, from early lows of
0.8589 and 1.2820, respectively. If the pound extends its uptrend,
it is likely to find resistance around 0.83 against the euro and
1.29 against the greenback.
Against the yen and the Swiss franc, the pound edged up to
189.33 and 1.1131 from early lows of 188.76 and 1.1092,
respectively. The GBP/JPY and GBP/CHF pairs may test resistance
around 190.00 and 1.14 regions respectively.
Looking ahead, the National Institute of Economic and Social
Research releases U.K. monthly GDP tracker for July at 8.00 am
ET.
In the New York session, Canada wholesale sales data for June,
U.S. retail sales for July, U.S. weekly jobless claims, U.S.
Philadelphia Fed manufacturing index for August, import and export
price indices for July, U.S. New York Empire state manufacturing
index for August and U.S. industrial and manufacturing production
for July, U.S. business inventories for June and U.S. NAHB housing
market index are slated for release.
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