- UK PM statement affects Brexit-deal hopes.
- UK retail sales beat expectations.
- USD bounce drags the pair.
GBP/USD traded with a weak tone, around mid-1.3500s, after the UK PM Boris Johnson said a Brexit-deal might not happen unless European Union step-back considerably from their current stance on a few key issues including the fisheries. A mild bounce in the greenback, after the sell-off in the recent days, also dragged the pair.
GBP/USD largely ignored the UK monthly Retail Sales numbers, released by the Office for National Statistics, which showed the November headlines sales contract by 3.8 Percent MoM, better than an anticipated fall of 4.2 Percent.
Also, the core retail sales, excluding auto motor fuel sales, fell by 2.6 Percent, better than 3.3 Percent expected-decline. But, the numbers well below last month’s 1.2 Percent and 1.3 Percent growth, respectively, failed to provide any bearish momentum in the pair.
The equities are in a modest pullback today and helped the US dollar to claw back a bit from its recent oversold levels. Nevertheless, the weight of US fiscal-stimulus expectations and the optimism surrounding coronavirus vaccine rollout would cap the gains. Traders would wait for follow-through selling in GBP/USD before confirming the pair has topped-out in the short-term.
The Brexit headlines will drive action in the pair in the day ahead along with global risk sentiments.
At the time of writing, one British Pound buys 1.3534 dollars, down 0.34% as of 9:04 AM UTC.
