British Pound Soars as UK Retail Sales Rise Most in 3 Years
Talking Points:
- UK Retail Sales Rose 2.8% m/m in December vs. 0.3% Expected
- British pounded Soared Against USD on Hawkish BOE Policy Bets
- Minutes from December’s MPC Meeting Now in the Spotlight
UK Retail Sales beat expectations, increasing 2.6 percent in the month of December and surpassing expectations calling for a 0.3 percent gain. The positive print marks the strongest outcome in 3 years. The British Pound rose immediately against the US Dollar following the release, and extended its gains against all of its major peers. According to DailyFX Analyst David Song, this move may push GBPUSD to the 1.66 handle as markets speculate that BoE Governor Mark Carney will be encouraged to adopt a more hawkish tone for monetary policy. Traders will now look for confirmation of a supportive tone shift in the text of minutes from December’s meeting of the central bank’s policy-setting MPC committee due next week.
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GBP/USD 5-Minute Chart. January 17, 2013
Charted created by David Maycotte using Marketscope 2.0.
-- Written by David Maycotte, DailyFX Research Team. Questions, comments or concerns can be sent to dmaycotte@FXCM.com.
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