GBP/USD trades back above 1.2700 amid upbeat UK retail sales
InvestingOnline.com
16/08/2018, 15:20The British Pound is trading higher on Thursday as investors welcomed an upbeat retail sales in July in the United Kingdom and a dollar pause in its rally as risk appetite is back on the table.
As an answer for a question in CNBC, National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow confirmed that the United States will hold a new round of trade talks with China later in August. Market sentiment jumped, and risk appetite resumed.
Earlier in the day, National Statistics said that retail sales in the United Kingdom rose 0.7% in July, well above the 0.2% expected by the market and a recovery from the 0.5% decline posted on June.
Year over year, retail sales rose 3.5% in July, an acceleration from the 2.9% posted in June and a better-than-expected figure than the 3.0% waited by the market.
Excluding fuel, retail sales rose 0.9% between June and July, better than the 0.1% increase expected by market and a recovery from the 0.6% decline posted in June. On the last twelve months, retail sales excluding fuel rose 3.7% in July from the same month in 2017, well above 2.8% increase expected by market and 2.9% posted in June.
According to the official report, “the quantity bought in non-store retailing showed strong growth both on the month and year-on-year at 4.9% and 16.9% respectively.” E-commerce remains on the upside as “spending online continued to increase to reach a new record proportion of all retailing at 18.2% in July 2018; with strong growth in department stores also reaching a record proportion at 18.2%.”
GBPUSD daily chart August 16
Back on charts, the GBP/USD is trading 0.30% positive on the day at 1.2730 after reaching intra-day highs at 1.2755. The pair is trading in consolidation mode following the recent decline from 1.3170 on July 31 to yesterday’s low at 1.2660.
Technical conditions remain weak, but indicators are improving conditions slightly. To the upside, the scoop is undoubtedly limited and only a close above the 1.2850 would improve bulls situation.
