A 0.8 percent decline in retail sales brought about by rising consumer prices triggered the fourth straight day of losses for the British pound. The decline was the worse on record for a December when holiday shopping traditionally sees an increase in retail sales.
“Sterling has been underperforming and that definitely continued after the retail number,” Lauren Rosborough, a senior strategist at Westpac Banking Corp. in London, said. “It is a weaker number and might take some of the pressure off the Bank of England to lift rates. It might push expectations out a bit.”
Source: Bloomberg