Pound is under pressure. Retail sales in the UK

The British pound has retreated from the session high against the US dollar, amid weak retail sales in the UK in December.

• According to published data, retail sales decreased by -1.5%, against the growth of the previous period at 1.0%. On an annualized basis, the growth rate slowed to 1.4%, which is below the forecast at 2.1%.
• The base retail sales index in December fell by -1.6%, against the growth in November at the level of 1.1%. On an annualized basis, the growth slowed to 1.3%, against the forecast of 2.7%.

Against the background of the weak position of the US dollar, the decline in the GBP/USD pair is rather insignificant, while maintaining a strong potential for further growth. See “Analysis of the American Trading Session“

Technical analysis: The pair GBP/USD is traded near the January high at 1.3940. In the case of further growth and consolidation of the price above the level of 1.3955, one should expect the pair to rise to around 1.4000. The main support levels at 1.3860, 1.3815.

Alexander Sivtsov