Pound Weakens After Soft U.K. Inflation Data

The pound fell against its most major counterparts in the European session on Wednesday, as UK consumer price inflation weakened in February to the lowest since 2021.

The consumer price index registered an annual growth of 3.4 percent, slower than the 4.0 percent rise in January. The rate was the lowest since September 2021. Prices were expected to climb 3.5 percent.

On a monthly basis, consumer prices gained 0.6 percent, offsetting January's 0.6 percent fall.

Core inflation that excludes energy, food, alcohol and tobacco weakened to 4.5 percent from 5.1 percent in the previous month. The rate was seen at 4.6 percent.

Data showed that output prices grew 0.4 percent on a yearly basis, in contrast to the 0.3 percent fall in January. Prices were expected to ease 0.1 percent.

At the same time, input prices dropped 2.7 percent in February, as expected, following a revised 2.8 percent decrease a month ago.

Month-on-month, producer input prices fell 0.4 percent and output prices gained 0.3 percent in February.

The pound reached as low as 1.2684 against the greenback. If the currency falls further, it is likely to test support around the 1.24 region.

The pound eased to 1.1298 against the franc and 192.29 against the yen, from an early multi-month high of 1.1323 and a multi-year high of 192.85, respectively. The pound is seen finding support around 1.11 against the franc and 183.00 against the yen.

In contrast, the pound was trading at 0.8539 against the euro, up from an early 2-day low of 0.8558. Next key resistance for the currency may be located around the 0.84 level.

Sterling vs Yen (FX:GBPJPY)
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De Mar 2024 à Avr 2024