The Great Britain pound jumped as UK retail sales rose last month, while concerns about the future of the European Union increased demand for the sterling as a haven from the sovereign-debt crisis in Europe.
British retail sales rose 0.6 percent in December for a month ago, when sales were down 0.5 percent. Automotive fuel and textile, clothing and footwear stores were the biggest contributors to the increase. At the same time, sales in household goods stores and other stores declined.
Investors are worried that Greece wouldn’t be able to reach an agreement with private bondholders on a debt swap that are crucial for securing a next portion of bailout. It looks like Forex market again has seen a same pattern as in the previous week: market participants were optimistic for the most part of the week, but lost their optimism by the weekend.
GBP/USD jumped from 1.5484 to close at 1.5574, near its daily high of 1.5576 (the highest level since January 5), while GBP/JPY climbed from 119.39 to 119.95 and its intraday maximum was 119.98 (the price not seen since January 4). At the same time, EUR/GBP dropped from 0.8369 to 0.8300.
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