The British pound depreciated to $1.367 on Friday, having touched a 2-1/2-year high of $1.3746 on Thursday, after PM Boris Johnson warned the UK’s third lockdown could last until summer. On the economic data front, latest PMI data pointed to a steep slump in business activity in January, with services once again especially hard hit and manufacturing seen growth almost stalling. Also, recent data showed retailers struggled to recover in December from a partial coronavirus lockdown in November, with retail sales up only 0.3%, well below market expectations of 1.2%. Still, the sterling is on course to book an almost 0.8% weekly gain buoyed by the UK's progress in rolling out vaccines and a lessening of negative rates expectations after Bank of England.
Historically, the British Pound reached an all time high of 2.86 in December of 1957. British Pound - data, forecasts, historical chart - was last updated on January of 2021.
The British Pound is expected to trade at 1.36 by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate it to trade at 1.33 in 12 months time.