European session review: GBP mixed despite better than expected UK’s GDP data for April

GBP traded mixed against its major counterparts in the European session on Friday, as data showing the UK’s faster-than-expected economic recovery for April were not enough to impress the market participants.

The pound rose marginally against CHF and NZD, fell slightly against USD and CAD, and was almost unchanged against EUR, AUD and JPY.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that Britain's gross domestic product (GDP) grew 2.3 percent m-o-m in April, the most since July 2020 and slightly exceeding economists forecasts of a 2.2 percent m-o-m advance, as the Covid restrictions affecting the country’s economic activity continued to ease. For the three months to April 2021, GDP rose 1.5 percent in April, recording its first expansion over the three months since the October-December 2020 period. The three-month gain was in line with economists’ expectations. 

Speculations that the final lifting of coronavirus restrictions in Britain could be delayed beyond June 21 - the date penciled on the country’s government roadmap to end the current lockdown - weighed on investor sentiment. The fact that the UK and the EU failed to come to an acceptable agreement on solutions to post-Brexit trade problems in Northern Ireland this week also continued to upset the market participants.