Pound Australian Dollar Exchange Rate: Australia's Q4 Data Sends GBP AUD Down

Modified: Wednesday, 5 March 2014 17:31 BST - Written by Tim Boyer

STORY LINK Pound Australian Dollar Exchange Rate: Australia's Q4 Data Sends GBP AUD Down

The Australian Dollar exchange rate (currency:AUD) was given a boost during the overnight trading session with the publication of an encouraging set of Q4 Gross Domestic Product numbers which revealed that the Australian economy is expanding at a faster than anticipated annualised 2.8%. Most economists had expected the figure to print at closer to 2.5%, so the Pound Australian Dollar exchange rate fell back to as low as 1.8527 GBP/AUD as a consequence.

The Pound to Australian Dollar exchange rate would surely have incurred heavier losses were it not for this morning’s Purchasing Managers Index survey of Britain’s all-important services sector. The February number showed only a minimal decrease from January’s 58.3 result. Analysts had been expecting a markedly larger drop in the rate of expansion of Britain’s combined tertiary industries.

Meanwhile, this morning’s European equities session also brought the release of Q4 Gross Domestic Product numbers from the eurozone. These came in at 0.5% - quite a way below the near 3.0% growth levels which the Australian economy is still experiencing. However, the Pound euro exchange rate GBP/EUR stayed relatively stable following the release by dint of the fact that economists were expecting a print of 0.5%. As was ever the case with the currency markets, ‘buy on the rumour, sell on the news’....

Looking ahead, the main event for this afternoon’s session comes in the form of this month’s monetary policy decision from the Bank of Canada (BoC). Any alteration to its key lending rate of 1.00% from the BoC would come as a major surprise. However, if the Canadian central bank’s accompanying statement includes any hints that a domestic rate cut is now off the cards, then look for the Pound Canadian Dollar exchange rate to edge further southwards from the multi-year high in the top end of the 1.8000-1.9000 region which it has struck in recent weeks GBP/CAD.

Important Australian Dollar Exchange Rates (Updated: 17:00 GMT 05/03/2014)

The Pound Sterling to Australian Dollar exchange rate is trading up +0.15% at 1.86328 GBP/AUD.
The Euro to Australian Dollar exchange rate is trading down -0.29% at 1.52966 EUR/AUD.
The US Dollar to Australian Dollar exchange rate is trading down -0.22% at 1.11396 USD/AUD.
The Canadian Dollar to Australian Dollar exchange rate is trading up +0.07% at 1.00749 CAD/AUD.
The Hong Kong Dollar to Australian Dollar exchange rate is trading down -0.22% at 0.14353 HKD/AUD.
The Australian Dollar to Euro exchange rate is trading up +0.29% at 0.65374 AUD/EUR.

The Australian Dollar to Pound Sterling exchange rate is trading down -0.15% at 0.53669 AUD/GBP.

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