British Pound: Growth resilience supports gains against US Dollar – MUFG

FXStreet Insights Team FXStreet

MUFG’s Lee Hardman reports the British Pound (GBP) is the best performing major currency in August, with GBP/USD back above 1.3500. The United Kingdom (UK) economy is proving resilient to the energy price shock linked to the US-Iran conflict, with Q2 GDP up 0.4% after 0.6% in Q1. Strong private consumption, recovering business investment and robust services and IT activity are supporting the currency.

UK data and carry back Pound strength

"The pound is continuing to perform well this year."

"It has been the best performing major currency so far in August with cable rising back above the 1.3500."

"The pound has been supported by further evidence yesterday that the UK economy is proving more resilient than expected to the negative energy price shock triggered by the US-Iran conflict."

"It was revealed yesterday that the UK economy expanded by 0.4% in Q2 following strong growth of 0.6% in Q1."

"After stagnating following the Brexit vote in 2016 until the COVID shock in 2020, business investment has since regained upward momentum providing a tailwind for the UK economy."

(This article was created with the help of an Artificial Intelligence tool and reviewed by an editor. Know more.)

Author

FXStreet Insights Team

FXStreet

The FXStreet Insights Team is a group of journalists that handpicks selected market observations published by renowned experts. The content includes notes by commercial as well as additional insights by internal and external analysts.

AUD/USD hits nine-week lows below 0.7000 on RBA Bullock's remarks

AUD/USD reverses a brief uptick and turns lower to hit nine-week lows below 0.7000 in the European morning on Tuesday, as traders digest cautious remarks from Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) Governor Michele Bullock during the press conference. Earlier on, the RBA raised the cash rate to 4.60%, as widely expected, leaving the door open to further rate hikes if needed.

USD/JPY consolidates near 157.50 as a bullish USD counters intervention risks

USD/JPY struggles to capitalize on the overnight bounce from a one-week low, consolidating around 157.50 in the Asian session on Tuesday. Trump's concerns about the Japanese Yen's weakness fueled speculation about another US-Japan joint intervention. This, along with the hawkish BoJ, underpins the JPY and caps the currency pair. Meanwhile, rising Fed rate-hike bets and oil-driven inflation fears continue to push US bond yields to multi-year highs, keeping the US Dollar pinned near a two-month high and supporting the pair.

Gold seems vulnerable near eight-week low amid Fed hike bets

Gold struggles to capitalize on a modest Asian session uptick, trading near its lowest level since August 4, around the $4,100 neighborhood, touched the previous day. Moreover, the bearish fundamental backdrop suggests that the path of least resistance for the precious metal remains to the downside.

Ripple and Stellar face resistance amid weak signals

Ripple and Stellar remain under pressure as bulls struggle to sustain recent gains. XRP extends its decline below $1.480 after three consecutive losing days, while XLM faces rejection near the $0.234 resistance zone. In addition, mixed derivatives outlook and weakening on-chain metrics suggest that bullish momentum remains fragile, leaving both XRP and XLM vulnerable to further losses.

India Gold market cautiously optimistic with approach of festive and wedding seasons

The Indian gold market is cautiously optimistic as we approach the festive gold-buying season. Higher prices continue to weigh on gold jewelry demand even as they support investment purchases. Meanwhile, wedding buying appears “resilient,” according to the World Gold Council.

Fed vs BoJ: Both hiked. The market only believes one of them – and the chart shows which

The Fed and the BoJ have just done something remarkably similar. Both central banks raised interest rates by 25 bps last week, both are confronting inflation risks, and both signal that future decisions will depend on incoming economic data.