The Sterling stopped to decline against the US Dollar on Friday on some improvements in the British current account deficit. GBP/USD rebounded from a twice hit intraday low of 1.3365 to add 15 pips or 0.11% and continue rising with enough strength to reach 1.3395.
The UK current account deficit was at £-22.8B representing 4.5% of GDP in the third quarter. According to the market expectations, deficit is set to narrow as the depreciation of the British Pound would encourage exports. Data also showed that UK consumers endured another tough period in the quarter, as their spending rose at the weakest yearly pace since 2012. The ONS said that the UK GDP was confirmed at 0.4% on a quarterly basis, while expanding 1.7% year-over-year.
| Historical Data Table: UK Current Account | Economic Calendar for 26.12.2017 | ||||||||
| Date | 23.12.2016 | 31.03.2017 | 30.06.2017 | 29.09.2017 | 22.12.2017 | 2:00 PM | S&P/CS Composite-20 HPI y/y | ||
| Actual | -25.5B | -12.1B | -16.9B | -23.2B | -22.8B | 3:00 PM | Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index | ||
| Forecast | -28.3B | -16.3B | -17.2B | -15.8B | -21.5B | 3:30 PM | Dallas Fed Manufacturing Index | ||
| Initial Reaction on Main Pairs | SWFX Sentiment Indexes | ||||||||
| Open Price | Close Price | % Change | Longs | Shorts | |||||
| GBP/USD | 1.33661 | 1.33813 | 0.11% | GBP/USD | 55.68% | 44.32% | |||
| EUR/GBP | 0.88795 | 0.88599 | -0.22% | EUR/GBP | 32.28% | 67.72% | |||
| GBP/CAD | 1.69958 | 1.70178 | 0.13% | GBP/CAD | 54.93% | 45.07% | |||
| GBP/JPY | 151.484 | 151.706 | 0.15% | GBP/JPY | 57.49% | 42.51% | |||