EUR/GBP breaks below 0.8400 following UK Retail Sales data

EUR/GBP extends its decline as the Pound Sterling gains support from the BoE’s decision to maintain its interest rate.
UK Retail Sales rose by 1.0% MoM in August, following a prior increase of 0.5%.
Germany's Producer Price Index (MoM) recorded a consistent increase of 0.2% for August.

Akhtar Faruqui FXStreet

EUR/GBP continues to lose ground, trading around 0.8390 during Friday’s Asian hours, following the release of UK Retail Sales data for August. Retail Sales rose by 1.0% month-over-month, exceeding the previous increase of 0.5% and the expected rise of 0.4%. Meanwhile, the annualized rate increased to 2.5%, up from the previous 1.5% rise.

The Pound Sterling (GBP) received support from the Bank of England’s (BoE) decision to maintain its interest rate at 5% on Thursday, as widely anticipated. The BoE had previously signaled the possibility of rate cuts earlier in the summer with a quarter-point reduction at the last meeting, but this move may have been premature.

Out of the nine Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) members, BoE external member Swati Dhingra voted for cutting interest rates for the second consecutive time, while the remaining members supported maintaining rates at their current levels. Investors had anticipated that two MPC members would back a dovish policy decision.

On the euro side, Germany's Producer Price Index (PPI) showed a consistent month-over-month increase of 0.2%. However, the annual PPI fell by 0.8%, against the expected 1.0% decline. Traders are likely to focus on European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde’s speech at the Michel Camdessus Central Banking Lecture in Washington, DC, on Friday.

European Central Bank (ECB) policymakers are divided on the pace of policy easing due to differing views on the inflation outlook. ECB Governing Council member Peter Kazimir and Deutsche Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel have expressed a desire to see more evidence that inflation will return to the levels the bank aims for, according to Reuters.

Economic Indicator

Retail Sales (MoM)

The Retail Sales data, released by the Office for National Statistics on a monthly basis, measures the volume of sales of goods by retailers in Great Britain directly to end customers. Changes in Retail Sales are widely followed as an indicator of consumer spending. Percent changes reflect the rate of changes in such sales, with the MoM reading comparing sales volumes in the reference month with the previous month. Generally, a high reading is seen as bullish for the Pound Sterling (GBP), while a low reading is seen as bearish.

EUR/USD deflates to fresh lows, targets 1.1600

The selling pressure on EUR/USD now gathers extra pace, prompting the pair to hit fresh multi-week lows in the 1.1625-1.1620 band on Friday. The continuation of the downward bias comes in response to further gains in the US Dollar as market participants continue to assess the mixed release of US Nonfarm Payrolls in December.

GBP/USD breaks below 1.3400, challenges the 200-day SMA

GBP/USD remains under heavy fire and retreats for the fourth consecutive day on Friday. Indeed, Cable suffers the strong performance of the Greenback, intensified post-mixed NFP, and trades at shouting distance from its critical 200-day SMA near 1.3380.

Gold flirts with yearly tops around $4,500

Gold keeps its positive bias on Friday, adding to Thursday’s advance and challenging yearly highs in the $4,500 region per troy ounce. The risk-off sentiment favours the yellow metal despite the firmer tone in the Greenback and rising US Treasury yields.