For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, the GBP rose 0.18% against the USD and closed at 1.3193, on the back of better-than-expected UK retail sales data.
Data showed that Britain’s retail sales rebounded more-than-expected by 0.3% on a monthly basis in October, suggesting that consumer spending is likely to propel economic growth in the final quarter of 2017. In the prior month, retail sales had recorded a revised drop of 0.7%, while investors had envisaged for a rise of 0.2%.
Separately, the Bank of England (BoE) Governor, Mark Carney reassured that the central bank will probably need to hike interest rates a couple more times over the next few years, provided the British economy improves as expected. Further, Carney vowed that the central bank will do whatever it can to support the economy in the event of any Brexit shock and would remain “nimble enough” to control inflation.
In the Asian session, at GMT0400, the pair is trading at 1.3235, with the GBP trading 0.32% higher against the USD from yesterday’s close.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.3165, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.3096. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.3274, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.3314.
Amid no major macroeconomic releases in the UK today, investors would look forward to the release of second estimate of UK’s 3Q GDP, scheduled next week.
The currency pair is trading above its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.
