The value of the pound sterling declines against the dollar amid the publication of data on the UK GDP, as well as data on the volume of UK industrial production. The GBP/USD pair sank 0.25%, fixing its positions near the 1.3780 mark

The dollar index against a basket of currencies of the six main trading partners of the United States added 0.25%, as a result, the USDX quotes rose to 90.63.

Macroeconomic statistics from the UK were released today, February 12, reflecting the state of the British economy. For market participants, this indicator is important, because, in recent months, there have been rather strict restrictive measures in the country to prevent the spread of a new strain of coronavirus. Experts assumed that the UK's GDP in the fourth quarter will decline by 8.1% in annual terms (in the third quarter, the country's GDP fell by 8.6%). In fact, according to the country's national statistics office, the UK's GDP fell greater in 2020 - by as much as 9.9%. In the fourth quarter of 2020, UK GDP fell by 7.8% year–on–year and rose by 1% quarter-on-quarter.

The core of the UK economy is the services sector, which grew by 0.6% in the fourth quarter quarterly. In the third quarter, this growth was at the level of 14.7%.

Also, the data on the state of UK industrial production for December were released. Analysts expected this indicator to rise by 0.5% monthly and decrease by 3.8% on an annual basis. According to the released data, the total volume of industrial production in the UK in December showed an increase of 0.2% compared to November, and in annual terms, on the contrary, decreased by 3.3%. The published statistics on industrial production turned out to be very contradictory. The monthly indicator showed worse results compared to analysts' forecasts, while the annual indicator, on the contrary, turned out to be better.

Following the publication of the UK macroeconomic data, major European stock indexes began to decline: the British FTSE 100 index fell 0.29%, the French CAC 40 - by 0.31%, the German DAX - by 0.58%.