The Pound Sterling earlier struck a 3-week peak versus the US Dollar during London trading, largely the result of the Dollar’s broad softness in the wake of the Rex Tillerson dismissal yesterday. Despite Sterling’s rise, market players are wary of pushing the Pound too high above the $1.40 threshold, given the concerns of the Brexit negotiations, including the European Union’s rejection of some of Britain’s proposed trade compromises. The UK Finance Minister’s speech yesterday did little to lift the sentiment for the Pound; Philip Hammond predicted slow growth over the course of the next five years.
As reported at 10:26 am (GMT), the GBP/USD was trading at $1.3954, down 0.08%; the pair has ranged from a session low of $1.3941 to a peak of $1.3996. The EUR/GBP is trading at 0.88643 Pence, down 0.15021%; the pair earlier hit a low of 0.88600 Pence while the peak is at 0.88800 Pence.
US Retail Sales Eyed
Currency markets will likely turn their attention to the US later today for the release of key retail sales figures. Analysts are predicting that retail sales (exclusive of auto sales) will have grown to 0.04% in February, up from January’s 0.0%. Analysts are forecasting that overall retails sales will have grown to 0.3% from -0.3% in January. Producer price inflation figures will also be released today with analysts calling for a rise to 2.5% for core price inputs (which strips out volatile components).