Pound gets a boost from UK consumer spending
By Amanda Cooper
LONDON, Oct 18 (Reuters) -The pound rallied by as much as 0.5% on Friday, after data showed UK consumer spending was surprisingly strong last month, offering some reassurance about the strength of the economy, although the currency was still set for its third weekly drop.
British retail sales unexpectedly rose in September, according to official data which contradicted signs that consumers were downbeat about possible tax rises ahead of the new government's first budget later this month.
Sales volumes increased by 0.3% in September, beating economists' expectations for a monthly 0.3% fall.
"Coming out of a period where elevated inflation led consumers to spend more but receive less, we are thankfully back on a path of seeing higher spending met with higher volumes of goods received," Scope Markets strategist Joshua Mahony said.
"With markets still making up their mind over the likeliness of a rate cut at both November and December BoE meetings, improved spending metrics could see dovish expectations fade somewhat," he said.
The data showed that, combined with stronger gains in July and August, sales rose by 1.9% rise in the third quarter, the joint largest increase since mid-2021.
Sterling GBP=D3, which rose to a session high of $1.307 earlier in the day, was last up 0.2% at $1.3037. Against the euro EURGBP=D3, the pound was up 0.1% at 86.615 pence.
It was still heading for a third weekly drop against the dollar, which has rallied over the last few weeks, as investors have grown increasingly convinced the U.S. economy is holding up well and will not need more large rate cuts to support it.
The Federal Reserve delivered a jumbo 50-basis point cut in September, but signalled no alarm about the outlook for growth, which prompted traders to reduce their bets on another similar move any time soon.
Meanwhile, the Bank of England is expected to cut UK rates at least once more this year, almost certainly in November but with a possibility of a further cut in December. 0#BOEWATCH
But given that inflation has proven more stubborn in Britain than in the United States, particularly in the services sector, and economic activity is not dropping off dramatically, the BoE is likely to be more cautious when it comes to lowering borrowing costs.
As such, the pound has been the best-performing major currency against the dollar so far this year, with a 2.45% gain, compared with a near-1.8% loss in the euro EUR=EBS, or a decline of over 6% in the Japanese yen JPY=EBS.
Graphic: World FX rates in 2023 http://tmsnrt.rs/2egbfVh
Graphic: Trade-weighted sterling since Brexit vote http://tmsnrt.rs/2hwV9Hv
Reporting by Amanda Cooper; Editing by Gareth Jones
免责声明: XM Group仅提供在线交易平台的执行服务和访问权限，并允许个人查看和/或使用网站或网站所提供的内容，但无意进行任何更改或扩展，也不会更改或扩展其服务和访问权限。所有访问和使用权限，将受下列条款与条例约束：(i) 条款与条例；(ii) 风险提示；以及(iii) 完整免责声明。请注意，网站所提供的所有讯息，仅限一般资讯用途。此外，XM所有在线交易平台的内容并不构成，也不能被用于任何未经授权的金融市场交易邀约和/或邀请。金融市场交易对于您的投资资本含有重大风险。
所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。
本网站上由XM和第三方供应商所提供的所有内容，包括意见、新闻、研究、分析、价格、其他资讯和第三方网站链接，皆保持不变，并作为一般市场评论所提供，而非投资性建议。所有在线交易平台所发布的资料，仅适用于教育/资讯类用途，不包含也不应被视为适用于金融、投资税或交易相关咨询和建议，或是交易价格纪录，或是任何金融商品或非应邀途径的金融相关优惠的交易邀约或邀请。请确保您已阅读并完全理解，XM非独立投资研究提示和风险提示相关资讯，更多详情请点击 这里。
