Sterling Continues to Tumble as Hard Brexit Remains Major Possibility in Market Outlook

Published: 18 Dec at 4 PM Tags: Euro, Dollar, Pound Sterling, America, UK, Eurozone, Australian Dollar, New Zealand Dollar, Canadian Dollar, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada, China, Germany,

Pound Sterling (GBP)
Investors continued to sell the Pound today following Tuesday’s plummet. Markets remained anxious amid revived hard Brexit fears and expectations for a 2020 filled with ongoing Brexit uncertainty.

UK retail sales will be published tomorrow, but Brexit and Bank of England (BoE) will be more influential. The Pound’s movement could be influenced if the BoE shifts stances on the UK economy due to political or Brexit developments.


Euro (EUR)
The Euro’s movement was fairly mixed today. While Germany’s Ifo business confidence stats beat forecasts, Eurozone inflation remained subdued and the shared currency’s appeal was limited by a slightly stronger US Dollar.

Most of this week’s influential Eurozone data has been published, but German and Eurozone consumer confidence on Friday as well as rival strength could be influential.


US Dollar (USD)
After weaker performance on poor US data and trade-sentiment earlier in the week, safe haven demand returned today and boosted US Dollar demand. Lingering US-China trade uncertainties, as well as political uncertainty amid the impeachment of US President Donald Trump, left investors more eager to buy safe havens like the US Dollar.

US existing home sales data will be published tomorrow, but are likely to be overlooked in favour of shifts in trade-sentiment and anticipation for Friday’s US growth and inflation results.


Australian Dollar (AUD)
As US-China trade uncertainties persist and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) was more dovish than expected this week, the Australian Dollar’s appeal was limited today. Investors steadied positions on the currency ahead of tomorrow’s key data.

Australia’s anticipated November job market report will be published during Thursday’s Asian session. If data beats forecasts it could soften RBA interest rate cut speculation and boost the ‘Aussie’.


New Zealand Dollar (NZD)
Similarly to the Australian Dollar, the trade-correlated New Zealand Dollar’s gains slowed today amid US-China trade uncertainties, and analysts steadied on the currency ahead of major data due for publication overnight. The New Zealand Dollar is also being supported by recent strength in New Zealand data.

Due to New Zealand data being strong lately, there is hope that New Zealand’s Q3 growth rate will impress investors tomorrow. The major growth report will be published during Thursday’s Asian session.



Canadian Dollar (CAD)
Unsurprising Canadian inflation rate stats today meant that Bank of Canada (BoC) interest rate cut speculation softened slightly. This, combined with the Pound’s weakness and a recovering US Dollar, left the Canadian Dollar one of today’s best-performing major currencies.

Further noteworthy Canadian ecostats will come in in the coming days. If tomorrow’s Canadian wholesale sales stats disappoint investors Bank of Canada rate cut speculation could persist and keep pressure on CAD.
As of Wednesday, 18th December 2019, the Pound Sterling currency rates mentioned within this news item were as follows:

GBP EUR exchange rate was 1.1771, GBP USD exchange rate was 1.3085, GBP AUD exchange rate was 1.909, GBP NZD exchange rate was 1.9876, GBP CAD exchange rate was 1.716, and GBP CNY exchange rate was 9.1659.

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