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The pair opened the previous week on a rather negative note, posting the strong decline during the first three days, continuing to recover from a recent batch of downbeat US data. However, the Pound gained ground on Wednesday, after the minutes of the Bank of England's April meeting showed that officials voted unanimously to maintain interest rates unchanged at a record low of 0.5% in April, with very low inflation being the main reason for keeping a steady stance on monetary policy. Nevertheless, the Cable did not manage to retain gains and fell against the Dollar on Thursday, after the disappointing retail sales data from the UK. According to the Office for National Statistics, the UK retail sales plunged 0.5% last month, compared to expectations for a 0.4% rise and after a downwardly revised increase of 0.6% in February. On Friday, the Pound rallied to five-week highs due to weak US economic report, which underlined concerns that the recovery is cooling, dampening expectations for higher interest rates. The US Commerce Department reported that orders for durable goods, excluding aircraft, tumbled 0.5% in March, after a downwardly revised 2.2% drop in February. Eventually, following, the positive tendency the pair closed on Friday at 1.5178 mark.
Concerning present week, the sentiment experienced major changes, as now vast majority of votes are positive on the GBP/USD currency pair, namely 80% of them. Concerning the important fundamental news, some of the data have already been published, which may indicate bearish trend for the pair. UK first quarter GDP dropped 2.4%, posting the lowest level since 2012. Moreover, traders could pay attention to the release of the UK private sector report on retail sales on Wednesday.
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