Pound Sterling Price News and Forecast: GBP tests 12-week lows amid mixed UK PMIs and USD strength

FXStreet Team FXStreet

British Pound tests 12-week lows amid mixed UK PMIs and US Dollar strength

The British Pound (GBP) accelerates its decline against the US Dollar (USD) on Wednesday, with the GBP/USD pair trading a few pips above 1.3272, its lowest price since July 2. The Greenback maintains its firm tone across the board amid Federal Reserve’s (Fed) tightening hopes and optimism about a fresh attempt to reach a peace deal with Iran while, in the UK, mixed business activity figures have failed to lift the Pound.

Preliminary UK S&P Global Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) figures for September, released earlier in the day, revealed that manufacturing activity improved to 52.0 from 51.7 in August, against expectations of a mild slowdown to 51.6. Read more...

British Pound weakens to near 1.3300 as UK fiscal deficit exceeds market expectations

The GBP/USD pair attracts some sellers to around 1.3310 during the early European trading hours on Wednesday. The British Pound (GBP) weakens against the US dollar (USD) as the UK’s fiscal outlook has worsened, piling pressure on UK Chancellor John Healey ahead of the first budget.

The UK Office for National Statistics revealed on Tuesday that UK public sector borrowing hit £18.27 billion in August, exceeding the market forecast of £15.35 billion a year prior and £2.04 billion in July. The August reading was higher than expected. The cumulative deficit from April to August reaches £77.3 billion, surpassing the Office for Budget Responsibility's projection by £8.1 billion. Read more...

Author

FXStreet Team

FXStreet

Composed of a group of economic journalists and FX experts, the FXStreet content team produces and oversees all content published on FXStreet. It provides a purely journalistic approach to the Forex market.

AUD/USD meets fresh supply and tests 0.7100 amid weak Australian PMIs

AUD/USD has come under fresh selling pressure and is testing 0.7100 in the Asian session on Wednesday. Australia's flash PMIs showed manufacturing slipped into contraction and services expanding slowly for a second straight month, renewing the pair's downside. Furthermore, a bullish US Dollar acts as a headwind for the pair as traders keenly await the crucial Trump-Xi summit on Thursday. Meanwhile, markets shrug off US-Iran indirect talks.

USD/JPY stands firm near mid-157.00s, close to two-week high

USD/JPY hovers around mid-157.00s in the Asian session on Wednesday, near two-week highs touched last Friday as the BoJ's dovish rate hike continues to undermine the Japanese Yen. Meanwhile, the US Dollar remains firm amid the Fed's hawkish stance, adding support to the pair, though JPY intervention fears cap further gains. Markets pay little heed to the completion of the round of US-Iran indirect talks ahead of Trump-Xi meeting.

Gold falls as Fed rate hike bets lift US Dollar to two-month high

Gold trades on the back foot on Wednesday as expectations of further Federal Reserve interest rate hikes lift the US Dollar and weigh on the non-yielding metal. At the time of writing, XAU/USD trades around $4,315, down 1.0% on the day.

Bitcoin outperforms US equities and Gold since mid-August

Bitcoin (BTC) extends its rally, trading above $86,000 at the time of writing on Wednesday after gaining more than 6% so far this week. Strong institutional demand is supporting BTC’s bullish price action, with spot Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) recording over $714 million in inflows on Tuesday after nearly $1 billion in positive flows the previous day.

S&P Global PMIs expected to show resilient US economic growth in September

S&P Global will release on Wednesday its preliminary September Purchasing Managers' Indices (PMIs) for the United States, based on surveys of top private sector executives, to provide an early indication of economic momentum. The data is expected to highlight US economic resilience.

BoJ Recap: Not as hawkish as expected

The Bank of Japan (BoJ) raised its short-term interest-rate target to 1.25% from 1.00% in a 7-2 vote, marking another step in the normalisation of monetary policy and widely matching what everyone has been expecting for weeks.