Pound Declines Against Majors
UK’s sterling showed weakness against its major counterparts in early Asian trading on Wednesday.
The Office for National Statistics will release UK’s industrial and manufacturing production data for January at 4:30 am ET.
The pound that drifted higher to 135.25 against the Japanese yen around 6:30 pm ET started reversing its direction thereafter. The pound declined to 134.64 against the yen around 9:35 pm ET and the next likely support level is seen at 134.4 in near-term. The pound-yen pair closed yesterday’s deals at 134.96.
An index measuring domestic corporate goods prices was up 0.1 percent to 102.5 in February compared to the previous month, the Bank of Japan said today. That was exactly in line with forecasts following the 0.3 percent monthly gain in January. On an annual basis, prices were up 1.5 percent.
Another report by the Cabinet Office showed that core machinery orders in Japan were down 3.7 percent in January compared to the previous month. That was roughly in line with forecasts for a 3.5 percent decline following the 20.1 percent surge in December.
On an annual basis, machine orders declined 1.1 percent – missing forecasts for a 0.6 percent contraction following the 1.5 percent fall in the previous month.
The UK currency that climbed to 1.5019 against the US dollar around 6:40 pm ET pared some of its gains shortly. The pound reached 1.4960 against the greenback around 9:45 pm ET, down from yesterday’s close of 1.4999. The cable is currently worth 1.4966 and the pair is likely to test yesterday’s 1-week low of 1.4938 in near-term.
The pound also drifted lower to 1.6097 against the Swiss franc and 0.9088 against the euro around 9:40 pm ET and. This may be compared to yesterday’s 6-day low of 1.6083 and 0.9099, respectively. The pound closed Tuesday’s North American deals at 0.9071 against the common currency and 1.6130 against the alpine unit.
From the euro-area, German trade balance, current account, imports and exports for January, German final CPI for February, Italian final Q4 GDP, French and the Italian industrial production data for January are expected in the upcoming session.
