GBP/USD falls back further ahead of UK sales data

The GBP/USD failed to drive home its advantage yesterday by rejecting another daily close above 1.3000. The rebound in the dollar was partly responsible for that failure, but the push higher in the EUR/GBP and a drop below 1.09 in the EUR/USD also had a hand in that too. A further rebound in the USD/JPY added pressure on the GBP/USD too. So, the Pound closed in the US last night at 1.2944 and it has not bounced much at all so far today and the reason for that probably lies with the upcoming UK Sales data, at 6am GMT. UK Retail Sales are forecast to fall back markedly in June. The consensus is for sales to have fallen by 0.6% last month, from a prior gain of 2.9% in May. The core rate is expected to make a similar correction and that could explain why the GBP/USD has remained under pressure since the US close. The range seen so far today has been covered by 1.2934 to 1.2968. There will be another update here once that data hits the screens in less than 30 minutes. The GBP/USD is currently trading at 1.2939