The British pound weakened against the Greenback, following the UK CPI data release. The GBP/USD currency pair lost 46 pips, or 0.36%, to continue fluctuating in the 1.3039 area.
The Office for National Statistics released CPI data that came lower-than-expected of 2.4%, compare to forecasted 2.6% and stayed unchanged from the previous period.
A Senior Economist from Hargreaves Lansdown, Ben Brettell said: "Markets had been pricing in around an 80% chance the Bank would lift borrowing costs in August, but today's inflation data combined with yesterday's lacklustre wage growth figures could force policymakers into a rethink."
Historical Data Table: UK CPI y/y | Economic Calendar for 18.07.2018 | ||||||||
Date | 20.03.2018 | 18.04.2018 | 23.05.2018 | 13.06.2018 | 18.07.2018 | 12:30 PM | Building Permits | ||
Actual | 2.70% | 2.50% | 2.40% | 2.40% | 2.40% | 12:30 PM | US Housing Starts | ||
Forecast | 2.80% | 2.70% | 2.50% | 2.40% | 2.60% | 1:30 PM | UK CB Leading Index m/m | ||
Initial Reaction on Main Pairs | SWFX Sentiment Indexes | ||||||||
Open Price | Close Price | % Change | Longs | Shorts | |||||
GBP/USD | 1.303 | 1.30191 | -0.08% | GBP/USD | 65.91% | 34.09% | |||
EUR/GBP | 0.89109 | 0.89166 | 0.06% | EUR/GBP | 26.05% | 73.95% | |||
GBP/CAD | 1.72568 | 1.72463 | -0.06% | GBP/CAD | 50.98% | 49.02% | |||
GBP/JPY | 147.258 | 147.193 | -0.04% | GBP/JPY | 47.67% | 52.33% |