The British Pound flirted with its recent highs against the greenback, advancing up to 1.5670 in the European opening, and on broad dollar weakness. However, much worse-than-expected local retail sales figures, have sent the GBP/USD pair into negative territory, back below the 1.5600 level and to a daily low of 1.5586. UK retail sales unexpectedly declined 0.2% in June, dragging the annual reading lower to 4.0% from a previous revised 4.7% and expectations of a 4.9% advance.
The GBP/USD pair trades around the 23.6% retracement of its latest bullish run around 1.5590, and the 4 hours chart shows that the price is pressuring its 20 SMA, a few pips below the mentioned Fibonacci level, whilst the technical indicators have turned lower in neutral territory, showing no directional strength at the time being. At this point the pair needs to accelerate below the 1.5580 support level to confirm additional declines towards the 1.5520/40 region, albeit further slides seem unlikely for today.
To the upside, some steady gains above 1.5620 are required may see the pair recovering the lost ground and return to its recent highs around 1.5670.
View live chart of the GBP/USD
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