The Pound Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate is steadily rising this morning as the Pound finds support from ongoing positive coronavirus developments in the UK.
At the time of writing the GBP/AUD pairing are trading around the AU$1.8895 level as Australian continues to battle against its own coronavirus situation which has seen restrictions tighten further.
Pound Bolstered by UK Coronavirus Developments
The Pound (GBP) has found itself heading higher against the Australian Dollar (AUD) during this morning’s session despite a lack of economic data from the UK.
As isolation comes to an end for those in the UK who have had both of their coronavirus vaccinations, investors become more upbeat over the UK’s economic recovery from the pandemic.
Health Secretary Sajid Javid commented that the change in isolation rules was a ‘step back towards normality’:
‘Vaccines are what will bring this pandemic to an end, with over 84,000 lives already saved and 23 million infections prevented.’
Sterling has found further support from the announcement that those aged 16-17 in the UK will be invited to have their first vaccination by the 23rd August.
However, Professor Neil Ferguson, former member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) issued a stark warning to the public moving into autumn.
‘That’s a slightly sobering situation to be in coming into September because our contact rates are about half our normal level and, in school holiday, children don’t have that many contacts.’
‘We’ll be reopening schools, people will be going back to the office so we’ve still got the potential of quite a large wave of infections in September, October.’
Australian Dollar Sours on Ongoing Coronavirus Outbreak
The Australian Dollar (AUD) has soured during today’s session as Australia continues to struggle against its ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
It comes as the state of New South Wales records a further 478 coronavirus cases and 7 deaths from the virus today.
New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian blamed the rise in cases on residents not complying with lockdown restrictions, saying:
‘The case numbers are disturbingly high and we are … at a fork in the road. We will see the numbers come down when people stay home and people don’t move about unless they absolutely have to. Until we see that, we’re not going to see the case numbers go down.’
Pound Australian Dollar Exchange Rate Outlook: UK Unemployment Rate in Focus
Pound investors will be looking towards tomorrow’s unemployment rate figured from the UK for June.
If unemployment continues to fall in the UK then Sterling could see itself further supported throughout tomorrow’s session.
Australian Dollar traders will be focusing on the latest meeting minutes from the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) tomorrow.
The bank is expected to reiterate their dovish tone surrounding the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in the country which could cause the ‘Aussie’ to tumble further.