Pound Sterling (GBP) Exchange Rates Were Supported After WTO Outlook for Post-Brexit UK Sees Little Chance of UK Recession in 2017
The Pound to rupee (GBP/INR) exchange rate continued to advance on Thursday afternoon as investors took advantage of higher oil prices and sold off the Indian currency from its best levels.
However, oil prices began to slip again during Thursday’s American session as market analysts began to appear unimpressed with OPEC’s oil output cap deal and oil lost some of its earlier appeal. As a result, the Rupee could recover on Friday.
GBP/INR continued to trend in a tight range on Wednesday as both currencies lacked in supportive economic data or appealing factors in the middle of the week.
The pair could see a little more inspired movement on Thursday upon the publication of Britain’s August consumer credit and mortgage approval scores, as well as India’s MNI business sentiment report.
The Pound began trading today in a state of all-around weakness, although since an announcement made in the afternoon, the UK currency has managed to claw back a number of gains against peers.
This announcement was the World Trade Organisation growth expansion forecast, which predicted that, while growth would slow in the UK during 2017, an ‘outright recession’ would still be avoided.
Less positively, concerns have been circulating that the UK may be in for a ‘Hard Brexit’, which could see single market access lost at the cost of gaining greater immigration controls.
Latest Pound/Rupee Exchange Rates
On Monday the Pound to British Pound exchange rate (GBP/GBP) converts at 1
FX markets see the pound vs pound exchange rate converting at 1.
FX markets see the pound vs euro exchange rate converting at 1.171.
FX markets see the pound vs us dollar exchange rate converting at 1.253.
NB: the forex rates mentioned above, revised as of 29th Apr 2024, are inter-bank prices that will require a margin from your bank. Foreign exchange brokers can save up to 5% on international payments in comparison to the banks.
UK Economic Outlook: BoE Speeches Incoming along with Q2 GDP Stats
The next UK economic announcements to watch out for will come from the Bank of England (BoE), in the form of a pair of speeches over this evening and tomorrow morning.
These will respectively come from Andy Haldane and Nemat Shafik; in Haldane’s case, dovish comments may be on offer, with further talk of interest rate cuts likely to weaken the Pound considerably.
Closing off UK announcements this week will be Friday morning’s Q2 finalised GDP growth rate figures, which are set to provide a clear picture on how the UK economy was faring just before the EU Referendum vote.
Indian Rupee News: Falling Crude Oil Costs Enable Indian Rupee Advance
The Rupee has crept up against the Pound and other peers today, thanks mainly to external developments.
On the commodities side of things, the Rupee has risen in value due to the cost of crude oil declining once again, thereby increasing the purchasing power of the Rupee.
Additionally, recent fluctuations in the US Dollar’s value following on from a Presidential election debate have resulted in the ‘Buck’ declining in value, which has further enabled a Rupee rise.
Indian Rupee Forecast: Gains Possible on Friday’s Budget and Debt Data
This week is not expected to be a data-rich one for India, with the bulk of the week’s data coming out on Friday.
Tomorrow, the morning will bring the negatively-predicted MIN business sentiment result for September, while some of Friday’s ecostats will include positively-forecast infrastructure output and foreign reserves figures, for August and September respectively.
Looking ahead to next week, Monday and Wednesday will bring pessimistically-predicted manufacturing and services PMI results for September.
WTO Report Highlights Immediate Negative Impact of ‘Brexit’ on GBP
While the main focus of the WTO report was on how the UK could fare in 2017, the statement also covered how the Pound had performed in the immediate aftermath of the ‘Brexit’ decision;
‘The UK referendum result did not produce an immediately observable downturn in economic activity as measured by industrial production or employment; the main impact was a 13% drop in the exchange rate of the pound against the US dollar and an 11% decline in its value against the euro’.
Mainly by virtue of chance, the Pound has been able to rise against the still-softened Rupee during Thursday's session.
For Sterling, the latest gains in the GBP/INR pairing have come from global news, where OPEC have finally agreed upon limiting the production of crude oil.
This has sent the cost of the commodity up by around 5%, which has conversely lowered the Rupee’s value due to it now being more expensive for India to purchase oil.