The Sterling pound today rallied against the US dollar during the American session as the Fed Chair Jerome Powell testified before the House budget committee. The GBP/USD currency pair spiked higher from a consolidative phase during this period despite the weak UK retail sales data released earlier today.
The GBP/USD currency pair today rallied from a low of 1.2825 during the late Asian session to a high of 1.2888 in the American session and was near these highs at the time of writing.
The currency pair traded with a bearish bias during the Asian session as investors sold the pound given the election uncertainty in the UK. However, the pair reversed course and headed higher as the London session got underway. The pair had a muted reaction to the UK retail sales data for October, which missed expectations but failed to drag the pair lower. According to the Office for National Statistics, the headline UK retail sales print shrunk 0.1% versus the expected 0.2% expansion, while the core print came in at -0.3% missing consensus estimates set at 0.2%.
British politics also played a role in the pair’s rally today as Nigel Farage the Brexit Party leader confirmed that he would field candidates in all Labour constituencies raising hopes that the Conservative Party could have a majority government. Jerome Powell‘s dovish comments about the US economy also contributed to the cable’s rally.
The cable’s future performance is likely to be affected by British politics and tomorrow’s multiple US macro releases.
The GBP/USD currency pair was trading at 1.2879 as at 20:18 GMT having rallied from a low of 1.2825. The GBP/JPY currency pair was trading at 139.60 having dropped from a high of 139.85.
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