GBP/AUD looks undecided in early trading on Wednesday. The pair is slightly up 0.02% so far, and it seems prepared to continue the uptrend that took off yesterday. Currently, one British pound buys 1.8689 Australian dollars as of 5:58 AM UTC.

Yesterday, the pair tumbled after the Reserve Bank of Australia left the interest rate unchanged and maintained the economic outlook, giving a boost to the Aussie dollar. Nevertheless, the price made a u-turn and recovered some of the losses. The quotation couldn’t break the support line of a bearish channel that started to form in mid-October and is now moving to the opposite line.

Markets are waiting for any clue regarding the potential trade deal between the US and China. Any positive news will support AUD as the Australian economy is dependent on trade and China is its biggest trading partner.

British Small Manufacturers Most Pessimistic Since Referendum

The pound is under pressure as small British manufacturing companies have become the most pessimistic since the Brexit referendum three years ago.

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said on Wednesday that its optimism index for small and medium-sized manufacturers dropped to -32 in the three months to October after -28 in the three months to July.

SMEs in the manufacturing sector reported disappointing new orders, especially from UK clients.

Alpesh Paleja, CBI’s lead economist, commented:

“Firms are caught between the perfect storm of perennial Brexit uncertainty at home, and sluggish growth in the global economy. As well as hitting output, orders and hiring, these issues are depressing investment plans across the board.”

The survey showed that nearly 67% of the 240 firms cited political or economic conditions abroad to cap export orders.

In general, the UK’s manufacturing industry looks stable. Last Friday, IHS Markit and CIPS published the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) for October, which rose to 49.6 from 48.3 in September. While this is the highest reading since April, it still points to contraction. Nevertheless, the figure beat analysts’ forecasts.

Manufacturers rushed to build stocks ahead of the previous Brexit deadline on October 31. Meanwhile, the European Union granted another extension to January 31, 2020. Prime Minister Boris Johnson couldn’t obtain the parliament’s nod for his deal within the previous timeline.


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