The British Pound traded sideways against the US Dollar, following the UK Retail Sales data release on Friday at 06:00 GMT. The GBP/USD exchange currency rate lost 3 pips or 0.03% after the release. The Pound continued trading at the 1.2180 level against the Greenback after the release.
The Office for National Statistics released the UK Retail Sales data, which came out worse-than-expected of negative 18.1% compared with the forecast of negative 15.8%.
According to the official release: "The volume of retail sales in April 2020 fell by a record 18.1%, following the strong monthly fall of 5.2% in March 2020. All sectors saw a monthly decline in volume sales except for a record increase in sales for non-store retailing at 18.0% and a continued increase in sales for alcohol stores at 2.3%."
| Date | 17.01.20 | 20.02.20 | 26.03.20 | 24.04.20 | 22.05.20 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | -0.6% | 0.9% | -0.3% | -5.1% | -18.1% |
| Forecast | 0.5% | 0.7% | 0.2% | -4.5% | -15.8% |
| Pair | Open | Close | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| EUR/GBP | 0.89464 | 0.89495 | 0.03% |
| GBP/CAD | 1.71115 | 1.71042 | -0.04% |
| GBP/JPY | 131.29700 | 131.213 | -0.06% |
| GBP/USD | 1.22165 | 1.22118 | -0.04% |
| Pair | Longs | Shorts |
|---|---|---|
| EUR/GBP | 28.1% | 71.9% |
| GBP/CAD | 50.6% | 49.4% |
| GBP/JPY | 64.4% | 35.6% |
| GBP/USD | 58.7% | 41.3% |
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