GBP/INR is rebounding on Tuesday after hovering yesterday above the support line of a sideways channel that formed in mid-December. At the time of writing, one British pound buys 99.573 Indian rupees, up 0.17% as of 8:20 AM UTC.
No major economic updates come from the UK or India. Thus, investors rely on technical analysis to explain the latest moves in the pair, which has been moving up and down within a horizontal channel.
The pound might be lifted by the optimism surrounding the COVID vaccination programme, as the British government ramps up the pace. So far, more than four million Britons have received a dose of one of the approved coronavirus vaccines, according to Public Health England data published on Monday. The government intends to include more groups and lower the age threshold from 80 to 70. The second phase of vaccination started yesterday.
Meanwhile, the UK reported 37,535 new cases and 599 deaths, which is a major decline compared to the record peaks saw last week.
The UK was the first Western country to approve a COVID vaccine when it green-lighted the product from Pfizer. At the moment, British citizens eligible for a vaccine can choose from three vaccines. Besides the Pfizer one, they can also opt for the vaccines produced by AstraZeneca and Moderna.
Even though the vaccination programme is ingoing and even ramping up, the national lockdown remains, and it affects many businesses, especially those operating in the services sector. Northern Ireland minister Brandon Lewis said earlier today that the government was still aiming to review the restriction measures in mid-February. He said:
“When we put these current restrictions in place we said we would do a review in mid-February … and that’s still the case.”
On Sunday, UK foreign minister Dominic Raab said that the government hoped to reduce restrictions in March.
As for India, the country hopes to experience a rapid recovery in the current calendar year. Data from Nomura showed that Indian business activity continues the uptrend this month after a rebound in December. Asia’s third-largest economy reported the lowest number of COVID cases since mid-June.
