numbers-and-inr-currency-symbol - INR

GBP/INR is still in correction mode after failing to maintain above 96.000 last week. The pair is trading at 95.339 at the time of writing, down 0.39% as of 5:50 AM UTC.

The price has been trading between 95.000 and 96.000 since April 13. Before that, it rallied for about a week. Bears are now looking for a trend reversal, but they will have to break below the strong support level at 95.000.

The sterling has been slightly weakening as the UK government extended the lockdown measures by three more weeks to curb the spread of the coronavirus. The number of cases and deaths in Britain is way higher than in India. The lockdown measures in both countries have disrupted economic activity.

Shopping Activity in UK Plummets 83%

Earlier Monday, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said that the number of Britons going shopping has tumbled by 83% since the government shut down non-essential retailers in March.

Last week, the BRC data showed that retail spending fell by 27% year-on-year, while Monday data pointed to an even sharper decline. BRC CEO Helen Dickinson commented:

Footfall dropped in early March, as many people chose to stay at home and reduce the risk of catching coronavirus. This downwards trajectory was accelerated by the government’s decision to put the UK on lockdown.”

Elsewhere, property site Rightmove said that it couldn’t compile relevant house price data as the number of new homes listed for sale collapsed.

The website, which usually displays over 90% of houses for sales on behalf of estate agents, reported a u-turn in the activity. The site operator said:

You do not have a functioning market when buyers can’t buy and sellers can’t sell, and so the focus needs to be on what is required to help the market recover once the lockdown can safely be eased.”

The number of page views on Rightmove fell about 40% during the lockdown, though it had started to gradually recover over the past week.

Last week, the British Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said that the UK’s gross domestic product (GDP) could drop by 35% in the second quarter of this year if the lockdown continued during the whole period.