GBP price, news and analysis:
- GBP was largely unmoved after the latest decision on UK interest rates by the Bank of England.
- As predicted, the central bank decided unanimously to make no changes to any of its monetary policy settings.
Check out the IG Client Sentiment data to help you trade profitably.
UK interest rates unchanged
In Sterling markets still dominated by the Brexit negotiations between the EU and the UK, the British Pound was largely unchanged after the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee decided unanimously to leave UK Bank Rate unchanged at 0.75% and its asset-purchase program unchanged too.
The Bank, though, highlighted greater market concerns about Brexit. “Since the Committee’s previous meeting, there have been indications, most prominently in financial markets, of greater uncertainty about future developments in the [EU] withdrawal process,”it said.
The BoE’s regional staff reported businesses were tightening cost controls and holding off on investment ahead of the UK’s March 2019 exit from the EU and exporters saw a 40% chance that Brexit would hurt their sales.Nonetheless, BoE staff raised their forecast for third-quarter economic growth to 0.5% quarter/quarter from 0.4%, partly due to stronger consumer spending over an unusually warm summer.
There was little response, however, in GBPUSD.
GBPUSD Price Chart, Five-Minute Timeframe (September 13, 2018)
Moody’s warns on no-deal Brexit
Earlier, the Moody’s credit-rating agency warned that a no-deal Brexit would damage the UK economy and would be “credit negative” for a range of UK debt issuers. It argued that the prospect of a no-deal Brexit has risen materially and that a no-deal outcome would weaken the UK’s credit profile irreparably.
While Moody’s still thinks a deal will be reached eventually to preserve many of the current UK-EU trading arrangements, it said that no deal would pose more significant credit challenges than a negotiated exit and that the immediate impact would likely be a sharp fall in the value of GBP, leading to temporarily higher UK inflation.
Tomorrow, UK Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab will visit Brussels to hold further talks with Chief EU Negotiator Michel Barnier. As the UK Government prepares to publish 28 technical papers on a no-deal Brexit, Raab insisted that the UK will not pay in full the £39 billion “divorce bill” to Brussels if there is no negotiated agreement.
You can read my earlier preview of the Bank of England meeting here.
Resources to help you trade the forex markets
Whether you are a new or an experienced trader, at DailyFX we have many resources to help you:
- Analytical and educational webinars hosted several times per day,
- Trading guides to help you improve your trading performance,
- A guide specifically for those who are new to forex,
- And you can learn how to trade like an expert by reading our guide to the Traits of Successful Traders.
--- Written by Martin Essex, Analyst and Editor
Feel free to contact me via the comments section below, via email at martin.essex@ig.com or on Twitter @MartinSEssex
