Analysts at ING stated that the currency pair seems undervalued, following the United Kingdom’s retail sales data which came in below expectations.
The report released today showed a 2.7% year-over-year decline in headline retail sales for April, with the core figure, excluding auto fuel, dropping by 2.0%. Moreover, the March sales data was revised downwards.
This follows a subdued UK Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) report from Sunday, which indicated a slight uptick in manufacturing but was overshadowed by a decline in the services sector, dragging the composite index down to 52.8.
The financial institution pointed out that the British pound currently appears overpriced compared to the euro. This assessment comes in the wake of a significant hawkish adjustment in the Sonia curve, which ING deems excessive, especially since the unexpectedly high services Consumer Price Index (CPI) for May can be partly ascribed to one-off elements.
Moreover, there are indications of a more dovish stance emerging within the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Market projections are leaning towards a mere 33 basis points of easing by the end of the year and less than 10 basis points for the upcoming meeting in August.
Despite this, ING still anticipates a rate cut in August, dismissing the idea that the UK vote might delay monetary easing. ING highlighted the potential for the short-term swap rate gap between EUR and GBP to shift in favor of the euro, especially with the European Central Bank (ECB) possibly taking a hawkish stance and the Bank of England expected to implement a rate cut in August.
Additionally, the upcoming July vote in the UK could lead to a minor political risk premium being factored into the pound. Given these considerations, ING maintains its outlook that the EUR/GBP pair is likely to rise over the longer term.
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