Pound Up on Upbeat GDP

The Pound Sterling moved higher against the US Dollar after recording the largest weekly fall during the month of September. Analysts say that concerns over a possible hard Brexit are limiting any additional gains. The Prime Minister's latest proposals aren't as well received as she would like with some 80% of her own Conservative party likely to vote against the so-called “Chequers” proposal. A stronger US Dollar is also keeping gains limited.

As reported at 11:24 am (BST) in London, the GBP/USD was trading at $1.2934, up 0.14%; the pair had earlier hit a peak of $1.2955 while the low for the trading day is at $1.2897. The EUR/GBP is trading at 0.89512 Pence, up 0.10%; the pair ranged from 0.89331 Pence to 0.89546 Pence in today's trading.

Mixed Data Keeps Gains Limited

The Pound is also getting a bit of help from today's release of GDP figures for the UK economy. According to the Office of National Statistics, the UK's GDP for the month of July (month-over-month basis) came in at 0.3%, above the 0.2% that the latest polls indicated, and up from the 0.1% recorded in the previous period. Keeping gains tempered was a broad decline in manufacturing and industrial productivity figures for July, all of which failed to reach predicted levels.