Sterling surges to new 15-month high after UK growth data

LONDON - The pound jumped to a new 15-month high on Thursday after data showed the British economy shrank by less than expected in May and the dollar dropped on the back of cooling US inflation.

Sterling rose for the sixth straight session and was last up 0.92 per cent at US$1.311, after breaking through the US$1.31 level for the first time since mid-April 2022. It was on track for its biggest weekly gain since October 2022.

The pound was also up against the euro, with the single currency down 0.39 per cent to 85.38 pence. That was not far off the 11-month low of 85.05 pence touched on Tuesday.

Britain’s currency has been on a tear against the dollar in recent days as investors have wagered that the Bank of England will have to keep raising interest rates while the US Federal Reserve is close to stopping.

Expectations of higher interest rates in a country tend to boost its bond yields, making them look more attractive and boost the domestic currency.

The pound had rallied 0.45 per cent on Wednesday as the dollar plunged in the wake of data which showed that US consumer price index (CPI) stood at 3 per cent year-on-year in June, the smallest increase since March 2021.

Data on Thursday showed the British economy contracted 0.1 per cent in May, after growth of 0.2 per cent the previous month. Economists expected a contraction of 0.3 per cent.

“The trigger for all this was yesterday’s US CPI (consumer price index inflation) data that came out, and the fact that this is showing that we may have reached peak (US) rates,” said Mr Michael Owens, senior sales trader at Saxo Global Markets.

On top of that, Mr Owens said, “every bit of data that’s coming out of the UK seems to be not quite as negative as the market was expecting”.

Figures released on Tuesday showed that British wages rose at the joint highest rate on record in the three months to May, keeping the pressure on the Bank of England.

On Thursday, the British government sought to

end months of strikes by offering teachers, doctors and other public sector workers pay increases

of 6 per cent and above, but warned it would mean cuts elsewhere.

The dollar index was down 0.53 per cent to 99.96, after dropping 1.07 per cent on Wednesday.

Adding to the slump in the greenback on Thursday was data showing that US producer prices barely rose in June.

“Today’s sterling strength is largely a catch up from yesterday’s underperformance, where the pound failed to pick up the same level of support as other G10 FX currencies as the broad dollar sold off,” said Mr Nicholas Rees, FX market analyst at Monex Europe.

Plenty of market analysts think the pound may have further to rise, despite the lacklustre performance of the British economy.

Deutsche Bank strategists on Wednesday said they expect the dollar to continue to fall and predict that sterling will rise to US$1.33 by the second quarter of 2024.

Yet HSBC analysts said in a note to clients that “we would be wary of chasing more powerful moves higher in the currency without a significant improvement in the domestic story”. REUTERS