Pound Australian dollar (GBP/AUD) remains dented as upbeat market mood persists
(Updated 15:00, 26/04/24) The pound Australian dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate has continued to trade approximately 0.3% down from this morning’s opening levels as markets remain positive moving into the afternoon’s session.
The Australian dollar (AUD) is also being underpinned by Australia’s latest PPI data, released overnight. As the index surpassed forecasts and served to fuel expectations that the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) will keep rates higher for longer, the ‘Aussie’ has managed to hold onto its earlier gains.
The pound (GBP) has remained trading mostly sideways as the session has progressed amid a further lack of any notable UK data.
At the time of writing, GBP/AUD is trading at around $1.9115, still trending roughly 0.3% lower than this morning’s opening rate.
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Pound Australian dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate trades near three-month low
The pound Australian dollar (GBP/AUD) exchange rate is on the back foot this morning following a better-than-expected Australian PPI reading, and remains trading near the three-month low struck earlier in the week.
At the time of writing the GBP/AUD exchange rate is trading at $1.9121, down roughly 0.3% from this morning’s opening rate.
Australian dollar (AUD) strengthens following PPI
The Australian dollar (AUD) is climbing against the majority of its peers this morning after Australia released its latest producer price index (PPI) for the first quarter of 2024.
The index surpassed market expectations and showed that producer prices rose by 0.9%, remaining at the same pace as the previous quarter and printing above forecasts price growth would decelerate to 0.6.
This confirmed a 15th period of consecutive growth and saw the ‘Aussie’ firm in overnight trade, continuing to post modest gains through to the start of this morning’s European session.
Signs of sticky inflation is fuelling expectations the Reserve Bank of Australia will seek to keep interest rates higher for longer.
Elsewhere, also providing the acutely risk-sensitive currency with some modest support is a return to cautiously upbeat trading conditions.
Pound (GBP) muted amid absence of notable data
The pound (GBP) is trading mostly flat against the majority of its peers this morning as significant UK data remains in short supply.
The one piece of mid-tier data that was released today is the latest GFK consumer confidence report for April, which printed marginally higher than expected.
Following a previous reading of -21, April’s figure came in at -19, and printed ahead of a forecast reading of -20.
April’s figure marked the first improvement in the index in a three-month period, and pointed to marginally increasing consumer confidence, which may have helped keep GBP exchange rates afloat this morning amid the absence of any larger UK economic releases.
GBP/AUD exchange rate forecast: Australian retail sales to buoy the Australian dollar?
Looking ahead, the likely driver of movement for the pound Australian dollar exchange rate in the first half of next week’s trading session will be the release of Australia’s preliminary retail sales figures.
Sales growth is forecast to rise from 0.3% to 0.7% in March and may help to bolster the ‘Aussie’ on Tuesday.
Turning to the pound, an absence of notable UK data releases at the start of next week will likely leave Sterling to trade in a narrow range, particularly in advance of the Bank of England’s (BoE) latest interest rate decision later in the week.
The current uncertainty surrounding the BoE’s outlook on monetary policy is likely to leave GBP investors reluctant to place any aggressive bets ahead of the central bank’s rate decision on Thursday.