UK Pound Slides Below $1.27 On Downbeat UK PMI Data; GBPINR Gives Up 106 Mark During Intraday Moves

Published on Jan 02, 2024 16:56

UK pound lost momentum and dropped lower against the dollar on the first trading day of the year. Downbeat data from UK added to further slide in the GBPUSD pair. The factory data came in at 46.2 in December, below expectations of 46.4 and from November`s seven-month high of 47.2. The economic data below the 50.0 threshold indicates contraction in economic activities. The Manufacturing PMI remains below the 50.0 threshold for the 17-month in a row. With risk of recession looming in UK coupled with rising expectations of Federal rate cut, BoE would need to rethink rate cuts that could hamper strength of pound. GBPUSD slipped to a one and half week low below $1.27 mark in reaction to downbeat PMI data. Currently, the pair is quoting at $1.2676, down over half a percent on the day. On the NSE, GBPINR January futures contract turned around intraday highs of 106.39 and fell sharply to 105.66, down 0.25% on the day.