The British pound (GBP) jumped back this afternoon following the morning’s publication of retail sales figures out of the United Kingdom. Expectations were for a rise of approximately 0.9% but the actual results came in slightly higher at 1.1%.
As a result of this report, traders jumped back into the pound in short-term trading, pushing the value of the GBP back to today’s opening price after a morning drop of 50 pips versus most of its primary currency pairs.
Helping this movement back into the GBP was a better-than-forecast industrial order expectations report. Published at 12:00 GMT, the industrial orders data showed a quickened increase in the industrial sector from the previous month’s faltering.
Today’s news highlighted a relatively strengthened British economy, though many remain skeptical of growth figures given their fragile nature these past several months. For the day ahead, prior to this week’s close, the British pound appears to be in a position to continue gaining. As of late-afternoon trading, the GBP/USD has pushed beyond its opening price by about 15 pips and does not appear to have much standing in its way.
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