British Pound Extends Gain Against Major Rivals
The British currency extended its early morning uptrend against major opponents during New York mid-day trading on Wednesday. The pound climbed to a new multi-week high against the US dollar.
U.K.’s industrial production rose 0.4% in November on a monthly basis, after easing 0.1% in the previous month, the Office for National Statistics said in a report on Wednesday. The monthly growth rate stood slightly above the consensus forecast of 0.3%.
Year-on-year, industrial production fell at a slower pace of 6% in November, following October’s 8.4% decline. Economists were looking for a decrease of 6.1%.
Annually, total manufacturing output slipped 5.4% compared to the 7.8% decrease seen in October. Economists were expecting a 5.1% fall.
Extending previous session’s uptrend, the pound ticked up further against the US dollar in mid-day deals today. The pound is currently trading near a new multi-week high of 1.6308 versus the greenback, compared to Tuesday’s close of 1.6166. The pound has been in an upward channel against the dollar for the past 6 days.
After a slight slip in early morning deals, the sterling edged up against the euro in today’s mid-day trading. At 12:00 pm ET, the UK’s currency jumped to a fresh multi-day high of 0.8896 from early low of 0.8955. At yesterday’s close, the pair was quoted at 0.8965. Currently, the pair is worth 0.8910.
The British currency also spiked up further against the Swiss franc and the Japanese yen in New York mid-day deals today. The pound climbed to new multi-day high of 1.6623 against the franc and 149.08 versus the yen at around 12:00 pm ET, which may be compared to yesterday’s closing values of 1.6470 and 147.10, respectively. Presently, the sterling is worth 1.6587 against the franc and 148.79 versus the yen.
