GBP/USD remains steady after gaining more than 0.5% in the previous session

When are the UK Retail Sales and how could they affect GBP/USD?

The United Kingdom (UK) docket has the Retail Sales data for December to be released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday, later this session at 07:00 GMT. UK Retail Sales are expected to decline by 0.1% month-over-month (MoM) in December, following a 0.1% decline seen in November. On an annualized basis, Retail Sales are seen rising 1% during the reported month, inching higher from the previous increase of 0.6%.

GBP/USD pair may remain silent even if UK Retail Sales data for December come stronger-than-expected, as the Bank of England (BoE) is widely expected to stay put on a gradual easing path, even as price pressures accelerated in December. Focus will be shifted toward the preliminary S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for January from the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) due later in the day. Read more…

GBP/USD rallies as US–EU trade de-escalation lifts risk appetite

GBP/USD rises during the North American session on Thursday amid an improvement in risk appetite, following a de-escalation of the trade-war between the US and Europe. Meanwhile, traders shrug off strong US data, which, despite signaling the strength of the economy, failed to underpin the US Dollar (USD). At the time of writing, the pair trades at 1.1357, up 0.24%.

On Wednesday, the US President Donald Trump announced that he had reached an agreement with NATO in regard to Greenland, refraining from imposing duties on eight European countries and averting an escalation of the trade war. Read more…