GBP/CAD is surging on Monday, after the UK released a series of economic data, including GDP growth for the third quarter, industrial and manufacturing production, and the trade balance, among others.
Elsewhere, the Loonie is under pressure amid tumbling oil prices, as the US President Donald Trump disappointed investors by saying he wouldn’t roll back the tariffs on Chinese goods despite the potential deal with counterpart Xi Jinping.
Currently, one British pound buys 1.6966 Canadian dollars, up 0.43% as of 10:24 AM UTC.
UK Economy Avoids Recession
The British economy managed to avoid a recession even though it grew at its slowest annual pace since 2010 in the third quarter that ended in September. The pressure from a global slowdown and Brexit uncertainty hit the manufacturing sector and business investment.
Just recently, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said that the gross domestic product (GDP) growth decelerated to 1.0% in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2018, which is the lowest level in about a decade. In the previous quarter, the annual growth was 1.3%.
The GDP growth in quarterly terms bounced back to 0.3% after a 0.2% contraction in the three months to June. Nevertheless, the acceleration was weaker than a 0.4% reading expected by the Bank of England (BoE) along with most analysts.
Elsewhere, business investment was unchanged in the third quarter but declined by 0.6% year-on-year, the ONS data shows.
Manufacturing production dropped more than expected, down 0.4% on the quarter and 1.8% compared to Q3 2018.
Household spending rose 0.4% on the quarter, driven by higher wages and low unemployment. Government spending increased by 0.3%.
Despite the mixed sentiment, the sterling found the courage to outstrip the Loonie, also thanks to declining oil prices.
Nevertheless, the Bank of England might cut the interest rate next year even if Prime Minster Boris Johnson handles Brexit by January 31, 2020.
While finance minister Sajid Javid praised the “solid growth” figures, John McDonnell, a top finance official of the opposition Labour Party challenged his stance:
“The fact that the government will be celebrating 0.1% growth in the last six months is a sign of how low their hopes and expectations for our economy are,” he said.