British Pound Attempts To Hold Near 3-Week High; UK GDP Returns To Growth

Published on Oct 12, 2023 14:46

The British pound slipped into negative terrain and briefly gave up recently reclaimed $1.23 mark during the European session on Thursday in immediate reaction to a slew of weaker than expected data from the UK. Pound rose steadily through the past week and stays at a three-week high as dollar reversed gains tracking a slide in US benchmark treasury yields amid reduced expectations of Federal Reserve hiking rates further. Overnight FOMC minutes that consider one more interest rate hike appropriate before the end of the year also failed to support the greenback. Benchmark treasury yields fell below 4.6% while dollar index is staying well under 106 mark. Meanwhile, GBPUSD is quoting at $1.2303, down 0.04% on the day. Gross domestic product returned to growth and came in line with expectation at 0.2 percent in August from July, when the economy contracted by revised 0.6 percent. Manufacturing output in the UK declined 0.8% on-month in August, slowing from an upwardly revised 1.2% drop in the previous month. Industrial production dropped 0.7% on a monthly basis in August, slowing from a one-year low of 1.1% drop in July. On the NSE, GBPINR October futures reduced intraday gains but stayed marginally in green at 102.38.