Pound Sterling trades mixed at the start of UK data-packed week

The Pound Sterling trades mixed against its peers while investors await a string of UK data.
The UK’s headline CPI is expected to have risen at a faster pace of 3.3% in March.
Iran refuses to return to the table for another round of talks with the US.

Sagar Dua FXStreet

The Pound Sterling (GBP) exhibits a mixed performance against its major currency peers during the European trading session on Monday. The British currency is expected to remain volatile as a slew of United Kingdom (UK) economic data is scheduled to be published this week.

Pound Sterling Price Today

The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the strongest against the Australian Dollar.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		-0.05%	-0.00%	0.19%	-0.01%	0.22%	0.09%	-0.04%
EUR	0.05%		0.05%	0.22%	0.01%	0.26%	0.14%	-0.02%
GBP	0.00%	-0.05%		0.17%	-0.02%	0.20%	0.10%	-0.07%
JPY	-0.19%	-0.22%	-0.17%		-0.18%	0.03%	-0.13%	-0.25%
CAD	0.01%	-0.01%	0.02%	0.18%		0.22%	0.07%	-0.06%
AUD	-0.22%	-0.26%	-0.20%	-0.03%	-0.22%		-0.13%	-0.28%
NZD	-0.09%	-0.14%	-0.10%	0.13%	-0.07%	0.13%		-0.14%
CHF	0.04%	0.02%	0.07%	0.25%	0.06%	0.28%	0.14%

The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the British Pound from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent GBP (base)/USD (quote).

Investors will pay close attention to the UK employment data for THE three months ending February, and the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Retail Sales data for March to get fresh cues on the Bank of England’s (BoE) monetary policy outlook.

The UK employment data on Tuesday is expected to show that the Average Earnings Excluding Bonuses, a key measure of wage growth, rose at a moderate pace of 3.5% Year-on-Year (YoY) against the previous reading of 3.8%. The ILO Unemployment Rate is seen as steady at 5.2%.

The inflation report on Wednesday will likely demonstrate a strong growth in the headline CPI by 3% YoY, against 3% in February, in the wake of higher energy prices due to the war in the Middle East. On Friday, the UK Retail Sales, a key measure of consumer spending, is estimated to have risen 0.2% on a monthly basis after declining 0.4% in February.

Meanwhile, the recent commentary from BoE Governor Andrew Bailey, in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) last week, suggests that the central bank will hold interest rates steady in the policy meeting on April 30. Bailey said that there is “no rush” for monetary policy adjustments despite a negative energy shock.

This week, investors will also focus on the preliminary UK S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for April, which will be released on Thursday.

Against the US Dollar (USD), the Pound Sterling recovers a majority of its early losses and rebounds to near 1.3515. However, the outlook of the GBP/USD pair remains uncertain amid uncertainty surrounding the occurrence of another round of talks between the United States (US) and Iran.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said during the day that there is “no plan for a second round of negotiations with the United States (US) for now.

(This story was corrected at 11:30 GMT to say in the third paragraph that Average Earnings Excluding Bonuses, a key measure of wage growth, rose at a moderate pace of 3.5% Year-on-Year (YoY) against the previous reading of 3.8% and not the previous reading of 3.5%)

Economic Indicator

Average Earnings Excluding Bonus (3Mo/Yr)

The Average Earnings Excluding Bonus release is a key short-term indicator of how levels of pay are changing within the UK economy; it is released by the UK Office of National Statistics. It can be seen as a measure of growth in "basic pay". Generally, a positive result is seen as bullish for the Pound Sterling (GBP), whereas a low reading is seen as bearish.

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