The Great Britain strengthened a little yesterday as the retail sales rose last month, but the currency hasn’t been able to retain its upward momentum and currently moves without a clear direction.
The volume of the UK retail sales increased 0.6 percent in October from September, following the 0.5 percent increase in the preceding month. That’s much better than market expectations of a 0.2 percent drop. The value of the sales rose 0.7 percent. The report noted that small stores performed better than larger ones.
The Nationwide Consumer Confidence Index slumped to 36 in October from 45 in September instead of rising to 46 as was expected by analysts. The index fell for the fifth consecutive month and reached the
Continuing consumer concern about the future state of the economy and the jobs market has driven the recent falls in confidence. The Eurozone crisis is likely to continue to weigh on confidence in the short term.
GBP/USD was at 1.5763 today as of 5:50 GMT, following yesterday’s rise from 1.5727 to 1.5751. GBP/JPY traded near its opening rate of 121.23, but the recent pattern pointed to the downside. EUR/GBP was up from 0.8541 to 0.8549 today after it fell yesterday from 0.8556 to 0.8542.
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