The Great Britain pound was the strongest major currency today, rising against all of its most-traded rivals. While there were plenty of macroeconomic reports released in the United Kingdom during the trading session, the most likely reason for the rally was profit-taking by bears as the sterling was still one of the weakest currency during this week.
The current account deficit widened to £30.0 billion in the first quarter of 2019 from £23.7 billion in the previous three months but was smaller than a deficit of £32.0 billion predicted by economists. The growth of gross domestic product in the first quarter of this year was finalized at 0.5%, unrevised and in line with expectations. Business investment rose 0.4% between the fourth quarter of 2018 and the first quarter of 2019 according to the revised estimate, whereas analysts were expecting the same 0.5% rate of growth as in the preliminary report. Nevertheless, it was a better reading than the drop by 0.9% registered in the previous reporting period. Released earlier overnight, the GfK Consumer Confidence demonstrated a drop to -13 in June from -10 in May, compared to the median forecast of -11.
Meanwhile, Boris Johnson, the most likely candidate for the leadership of the Conservative party and the seat of prime minister, refused to rule out suspension of the parliament to push through a no-deal Brexit without support from the MPs. That is after he said on Wednesday that leaving the European Union without a trade deal is “million to one against”.
GBP/USD gained from 1.2673 to 1.2697 as of 17:47 GMT today, and its session high was at 1.2734. EUR/GBP declined from 0.8971 to 0.8951. GBP/JPY advanced from 136.53 to 136.95.
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