The British pound weakened against the Greenback, following the UK Retail Sales data release. The GBP/USD currency pair lost 88 pips in ten minute, or 0.67%, to continue fluctuating in the 1.3040 area.
The Energy Information Administration released Retail Sales data that came lower-than-expected of negative 0.5%, compare to forecasted 0.1%.
Fiona Cincotta of City Index said: "Retailers in general have been under intense pressure over the past 18 months as squeezed consumers hold back on spending in the face of higher prices and sluggish wage growth. Big names such as Marks and Spencer, Mothercare and House of Fraser have been closing stores in order to reduce costs. Meanwhile internet spending, continued to break news records."
| Historical Data Table: UK Retail Sales | Economic Calendar for 20.07.2018 | ||||||||
| Date | 22.03.2018 | 19.04.2018 | 24.05.2018 | 14.06.2018 | 19.07.2018 | 8:30 AM | GB Public Sector Net Borrowing | ||
| Actual | 0.80% | -1.20% | 1.60% | 1.30% | -0.50% | Tentative | G20 Meetings | ||
| Forecast | 0.40% | -0.50% | 0.80% | 0.50% | 0.10% | Day 1 | EU German PPI m/m | ||
| Initial Reaction on Main Pairs | SWFX Sentiment Indexes | ||||||||
| Open Price | Close Price | % Change | Longs | Shorts | |||||
| GBP/USD | 1.30209 | 1.2987 | -0.26% | GBP/USD | 66.79% | 33.21% | |||
| EUR/GBP | 0.89164 | 0.89362 | 0.22% | EUR/GBP | 27.94% | 72.06% | |||
| GBP/CAD | 1.72078 | 1.7169 | -0.23% | GBP/CAD | 47.47% | 52.53% | |||
| GBP/JPY | 147.142 | 146.718 | -0.29% | GBP/JPY | 51.17% | 48.83% | |||