The British Pound traded sideways against the US Dollar, following the UK GDP and Manufacturing Production data release on Wednesday at 06:00 GMT. The GBP/USD exchange currency rate gained 5 pips or 0.04% after the release. The Pound continued trading at the 1.2280 level against the Greenback after the release.
The Office for National Statistics released the UK Prelim GDP data, which came out better-than-expected of negative 2.0% compared with the forecast of negative 2.6%.
According to the official release: "When compared with the same quarter a year ago, UK GDP decreased by 1.6% in Quarter 1 2020; the biggest fall since Quarter 4 2009, when it also fell by 1.6%. This release captures the first direct effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and the government measures taken to reduce transmission of the virus. There has been a widespread disruption to economic activity, as services output fell by a record 1.9% in Quarter 1; there were also significant contractions in production and construction."
| Date | 10.05.19 | 09.08.19 | 11.11.19 | 11.02.20 | 13.05.20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | 0.5% | -0.2% | 0.3% | 0.0% | -2.0% |
| Forecast | 0.5% | 0.0% | 0.4% | 0.0% | -2.6% |
| Pair | Open | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/GBP | 0.88394 | 0.88367 | -0.03% |
| GBP/CAD | 1.7258 | 1.72628 | 0.03% |
| GBP/JPY | 131.51300 | 131.554 | 0.03% |
| GBP/USD | 1.22761 | 1.22802 | 0.03% |
| Pair | Longs | Shorts |
|---|---|---|
| EUR/GBP | 31.3% | 68.8% |
| GBP/CAD | 37.9% | 62.1% |
| GBP/JPY | 61.3% | 38.7% |
| GBP/USD | 61.7% | 38.4% |
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