GBP/NZD Forecast: Pound New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate Rangebound on UK Lockdown Easing Concerns

May 14, 2021 - Written by John Cameron

STORY LINK GBP/NZD Forecast: Pound New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate Rangebound on UK Lockdown Easing Concerns

The Pound to New Zealand Dollar (GBP/NZD) exchange rate is rangebound this morning as Sterling continues to find support in optimism surrounding the UK’s lockdown easing.

At the time of writing the GBP/NZD pairing are trading around the NZ$1.9566 level as a cautious market mood limits the New Zealand Dollar.

Pound (GBP) Mixed on UK Lockdown Easing Concerns

The Pound is mixed against the New Zealand Dollar today as a lack of notable data from the UK leaves Sterling open to losses.

More so, whilst investors remain optimistic surrounding the UK’s lockdown easing next week, an edge of caution has presented itself following a rise in cases of the Indian variant of the virus.

It comes as Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford has told officials that Wales have ‘decided to hold back’ on relaxing some lockdown restrictions in Wales on Monday.

Speaking to UK television this morning, Mr Drakeford said:

‘We had thought of moving ahead with the reopening of smaller events, we’ll pause that for a moment. We were thinking of liberalising the rules in the way in which people can meet together, not just in their extended household but beyond that, we’ll pause that for the moment.’

‘If the advice on the Indian variant is that it is safe to move ahead, we won’t need to wait for the end of our next three-week cycle to do those things, but the Indian variant is giving us cause for concern.’

New Zealand Dollar (NZD) Rangebound on Cautious Market Mood

The New Zealand Dollar is rangebound against many of its biggest rivals this morning as a cautious market mood limits the risk-correlated currency.
As violence continues to escalate between Israel and Palestine many investors are not willing to take risks, instead choosing to head towards safe-haven currencies like the US Dollar.

More so, the latest New Zealand Business NZ PMI released last night fell from 63.6 to 58.4 during April.

Although the data was largely ignored by markets, the latest economics have questioned the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s (RBNZ) rate hike gossip next year.

GBP/NZD Exchange Rate Outlook: UK Employment Data in Focus

Heading into next week, Pound investors will be looking towards the latest employment data from the UK for March, where unemployment is thought to have edged up 0.1% to 5% as much on the UK remained in stricter lockdown measures.

Pound investors will also be focusing on much of the UK easing lockdown measures at the start of next week, which could bolster Sterling.

A quieter week for the New Zealand Dollar will instead see traders keep an eye on the global market mood and any further coronavirus developments.

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TAGS: Pound New Zealand Dollar Forecasts