Pound Sterling Price News and Forecast: GBP ticks up against USD after UK flash PMI

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Pound Sterling ticks up against USD after UK flash PMI, Retail Sales data, US Q4 GDP eyed

The Pound Sterling (GBP) edges higher to near 1.3470 against the US Dollar (USD) during the European trading session on Friday after recovering earlier losses. The GBP/USD pair ticks up as the Pound Sterling trades higher after the release of the upbeat United Kingdom (UK) Retail Sales data for January and the preliminary S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for February.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has reported that Retail Sales, a key measure of consumer spending, unexpectedly grew at a robust pace of 1.8% month-on-month (MoM). Economists expected the consumer spending measure to have risen at a moderate pace of 0.2% from 0.4% in December. Read more...

GBP/USD: Slide enters fifth consecutive day

GBP/USD fell for the fifth consecutive day, reaching 1.3445. The slowdown in headline price growth has boosted expectations of an imminent rate cut by the Bank of England, although underlying price pressures remain robust.

Annual inflation in January slowed to 3.0% from 3.4% in December, in line with forecasts. However, inflation in the services sector, which reflects domestic price pressures, only fell to 4.4% from 4.5%, above the expected 4.3%. This partly supported the pound. Earlier, sterling had fallen after weak labour data raised expectations of a rate cut. Read more...

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FXStreet Team

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