Pound Trades Mixed to Lower Following Rally

The Great Britain pound was little changed at the start of the current trading session, edging a little lower against the euro and the Japanese yen. The currency rallied yesterday due to better-than-expected retail sales.
UK retail sales rose 0.8 percent in October after falling 0.4 percent in September. Analysts predicted smaller growth by 0.4 percent.
The positive data allowed the currency to rise, touching the highest level since October 2008 against the yen. Weaker-than-expected indicators for the eurozone added to the appeal of the sterling as a safe currency.
The pound still suffers from uncertainty about timing of monetary tightening. While minutes of the November policy meeting were welcomed by market participants, they showed the same division of votes as before: two members of the Committee voted for raising interest rates while seven preferred to keep borrowing costs unchanged.
GBP/USD traded near the opening level of 1.5691 as of 1:26 GMT today. GBP/JPY slipped from 185.43 to 185.12. EUR/GBP inched higher from 0.7990 to 0.7997.

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