The Sterling pound today fell against the US dollar despite the release of upbeat UK retail sales data in the early London session. The GBP/USD currency pair extended its losses following the release of positive retail sales data from the US docket in the early American session.
The GBP/USD currency pair today fell from an Asian session high of 1.3053 to a low of 1.2992 and was in negative territory at the time of writing.
The currency pair opened today’s session with a slightly bullish bias and attempted to rally during the Asian session. However, investor risk appetite shifted causing the pair to fall and extend its losses following the release of the UK retail sales data by the Office for National Statistics, despite the headline print beating expectations by coming in at 1.1% versus the expected 0.3% decline. The core print also beat consensus estimates set at -0.3% by coming in at an impressive 1.3%. The pair kept falling and took a breather in the mid-London session.
The release of the latest US retail sales data by the Census Bureau drove the cable lower as the print beat expectations. The headline print came in at 1.6% beating expectations set at 0.9% as did the core print and the control group. The positive initial jobless claims report released by the Department of Labor also contributed to the cable’s fall.
The cable’s performance over the upcoming Easter bank holidays is likely to be influenced by geopolitical events.
The GBP/USD currency pair was trading at 1.3001 as at 14:40 GMT having dropped from a high of 1.3053. The GBP/JPY currency pair was trading at 145.43 having fallen from a high of 146.07.
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