The GBP/USD currency pair today traded lower after the release of mixed UK labour market report in the early European session. The currency pair cemented its losses during the early American session after the release of upbeat US housing data amid a resurgence in US dollar demand.
The GBP/USD currency pair today lost over 70 points to decline from a high of 1.4377 to trade at a low of 1.4304 at the time of writing.
The currency pair declined from fresh 2018 tops registered earlier today following the release of the UK labour market report by the Office for National Statistics. The report indicated that average weekly earnings including bonuses grew at an annualized 2.8%, which was lower than the expected 3.0% print. The ILO unemployment rate came in at 4.2%, which was slightly lower than the expected 4.3% figure. The claimant count rate rose by 11,600 beating expectations and was much lower than the previous figure of 15,100. The employment change figures also met expectations, but could not reverse the negative impact of the earnings data.
The release of the US housing starts data by the Census Bureau early in the American session further contributed to the pair’s decline. The housing starts came in at 1.319 million in March beating expectations, while the building permits came in at 1.354 million, also exceeding consensus estimates. The US industrial production data also beat expectations.
The currency pair’s future performance is likely to be influenced by tomorrow’s UK CPI data and the US MBA mortgage applications data.
The GBP/USD currency pair was trading at 1.4308 as at 15:34 GMT having dropped from a high of 1.4377. The GBP/JPY currency pair was trading at 153.25 having declined from a high of 153.75.
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