The British Pound weakened against the Greenback, following the UK Prelim GDP data release on Friday. The GBP/USD currency pair lost 71 pips, or 0.51%, to continue fluctuating in the 1.3812 area.
The Office for National Statistics released Preliminary Gross Domestic Product data for Q1 2018, that came out less-than-expected of 0.1%, failing to reach the forecast of 0.3%, showing the slowdown, compared to 0.5% increase in the Q4 2017. One of the main reason for low UK GDP's growth pace is due to the construction being the biggest downward pull, causing the GDP to reach the lowest increase since Q4 2012.
Historical Data Table: UK Prelim GDP q/q | Economic Calendar for 27.04.2018 | ||||||||
Date | 28.04.2017 | 26.07.2017 | 25.10.2017 | 26.01.2018 | 27.04.2018 | 12:30 PM | US Advance GDP q/q | ||
Actual | 0.30% | 0.30% | 0.40% | 0.50% | 0.10% | 12:30 PM | US Advance GDP Price Index | ||
Forecast | 0.40% | 0.30% | 0.30% | 0.40% | 0.30% | 12:30 PM | US Employment Cost Index | ||
Initial Reaction on Main Pairs | SWFX Sentiment Indexes | ||||||||
Open Price | Close Price | % Change | Longs | Shorts | |||||
GBP/USD | 1.38826 | 1.38117 | -0.51% | GBP/USD | 52.13% | 47.87% | |||
EUR/GBP | 0.86985 | 0.87388 | 0.46% | EUR/GBP | 40.41% | 59.59% | |||
GBP/CAD | 1.79021 | 1.78126 | -0.50% | GBP/CAD | 26.81% | 73.19% | |||
GBP/JPY | 151.798 | 151.048 | -0.49% | GBP/JPY | 39.68% | 60.32% |