For the 24 hours to 23:00 GMT, GBP fell 0.60% against the USD and closed at 1.6035, as a lackluster report on UK’s retail sales data spooked investors confidence in the recovery of the UK economy.
An official data showed that retail sales in the nation stood at 2.1% (YoY) in August, defying market expectation for a rise to 3.3% and compared to a 3.0% rise seen in the previous month. Later, a separate report showed that, on a monthly basis, the CBI industrial trends survey – orders in the UK surged to a reading of 9.0 in September, surpassing market expectation for a rise to 2.0 and following a reading of 0 registered in the previous month.
In the Asian session, at GMT0300, the pair is trading at 1.6044, with the GBP trading 0.06% higher from yesterday’s close.
The pair is expected to find support at 1.5996, and a fall through could take it to the next support level of 1.5949. The pair is expected to find its first resistance at 1.6117, and a rise through could take it to the next resistance level of 1.6191.
Investors are expected to keep a close watch on UK’s public sector net borrowing data, scheduled to release later during the day, for further cues.
The currency pair is showing convergence with its 20 Hr and 50 Hr moving averages.