GBP/AUD Pound Gains as Hope of UK Political Stability Increases

The British pound is higher against the Australian dollar on Thursday.

  • Australia adds four times more jobs than expected
  • Unemployment rate in Australia highest since 1998
  • Pound rises ahead of new Brexit talks next week
  • Large Treasury auctions moving bond yields, exchange rates

GBP/AUD was higher by 78 pips (+0.44%) to 1.8894 as of 4pm GMT. This week the pound is higher over the Aussie dollar by +0.19%.

The currency pair made steady gains in the day, stalling just ahead of 1.83 after having held support at 1.82 yesterday, when the exchange rate dropped -0.40%.

GBP: Brexit talks start again next week

Having felt big declines on Wednesday, the pound rebounded on Thursday as markets looked through the current UK recession in hopes of a rebound in the third quarter bolstered by rising hopes a coronavirus vaccine will be available in the coming months.

The prospect of the next round of face-to-face UK-EU post-Brexit negotiations taking place next week added a layer of support to the British currency. Both sides have been sounding determined to get a deal in recent commentary, with seemingly less of a blame game going on than when talks began in the Spring.

The talks are scheduled for August 18-21, starting with a dinner and presumably finishing with press conferences from the two chief negotiators Barnier and Frost.

AUD: Australia creates 4x more jobs than expected

Unemployment data for Australia was encouraging given the dampening affects of the second lockdown in Melbourne and demonstrated some endurance in the Australian economy.

114,700 new jobs were created since June but with workers re-entering the workforce as jobs become available again, the unemployment rate picked up to its highest since November 1998, which weighed on the Aussie dollar – despite some underlying encouraging signs from the jobs growth.

Large government debt auctions taking place in the United States, this time for $26 billion 30-year Treasury bonds played a role in moving both government bond and foreign exchange markets. Yields in the US, UK and Australia all gained amid the higher supply – though the force of Fed bond buying kept US yields lower than elsewhere, undercutting the dollar and helping the pound and Aussie rise.