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The British Pound fell sharply against the Greenback on the report showing stronger-than-expected drop in the country's retail sales.GBP/USD marked a 0.21% decrease to the 1.3151 level to finish the session at the same level. The pair's Friday trading started with sharp decline overshadowed by news supportive for Dollar.
The Office for National Statistics reported that the volume of the UK retail sales dropped unexpectedly 0.8% in September, putting the quarterly growth to the weakest yearly rate since 2013. Consumer demand was uncertain, though pre-Christmas sales are likely to change the situation. Moreover, questions arose about wheteher the Bank of England would hike rates for the first time in a decade.
| Historical Data Table: UK Retail Sales m/m | Economic Calendar for 20.10.2017 | ||||||||
| Date | 15.06.2017 | 20.07.2017 | 17.08.2017 | 20.09.2017 | 19.10.2017 | 12:30 PM | Canadian CPI m/m | ||
| Actual | -1.20% | 0.60% | 0.30% | 1.00% | -0.80% | 2:00 PM | US Excisting Home Sales | ||
| Forecast | -0.90% | 0.40% | 0.20% | 0.20% | -0.10% | 11:15 PM | Fed's chair Yellen Speech | ||
| Initial Reaction on Main Pairs | SWFX Sentiment Indexes | ||||||||
| Open Price | Close Price | % Change | Longs | Shorts | |||||
| GBP/USD | 1.31797 | 1.31517 | -0.21% | GBP/USD | 62.96% | 37.04% | |||
| EUR/GBP | 0.89418 | 0.89776 | 0.40% | EUR/GBP | 28.68% | 71.32% | |||
| GBP/CAD | 1.6455 | 1.63914 | -0.39% | GBP/CAD | 61.59% | 38.41% | |||
| GBP/JPY | 148.469 | 148.154 | -0.21% | GBP/JPY | 46.76% | 53.24% | |||