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Pound Sterling to US Dollar (GBP/USD) Exchange Rate Forecast: Poor UK Retail Sales Trigger Sterling Instability Today

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The Pound Sterling to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate has risen by a small amount today, although the Pound has not fared particularly well elsewhere due to weak domestic data.

GBP/USD Exchange Rate News: Poor UK Results Across the Board lower Pound’s Appeal Today

The Pound Sterling (GBP) has made a marginal gain of 0.2% against the US Dollar (GBP/USD) today, though in other pairings the Pound has been less positive, with losses of over -0.4% being seen against the Australian Dollar (GBP/AUD), the Mexican Peso (GBP/MXN) and the Israeli New Shekel (GBP/ILS). Another of Sterling’s few rises today has been by 0.4% against the Omani Rial (GBP/OMR).

The Pound has received little-to-no support from its domestic data today, with the UK Retail Sales for October falling by more-than-forecast and the still-negative Confederation of British Industry (CBI) November Trends for Total Orders only hitting -11 points instead of -10. However, the one bright spot for Sterling has come in the form of the CBI Trends for Selling Prices in November moving from -7 to -2 instead of a mere -6.

USD/GBP Exchange Rate Declines as Investor Profit Taking Softens the ‘Greenback’

The US Dollar (USD) has declined overall today, with a -0.2% drop against the Pound Sterling (USD/GBP) being the least of the US currency’s worries. The primary cause for this has been investors opting to profit from the US Dollar’s recent bull-run following the practical guarantee from the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) last meeting minutes that a US interest rate hike would take place in December. Prior to this news, the ‘Buck’ was trending narrowly against competitors like the Canadian Dollar (CAD).

The US Dollar has fallen by -0.4% against the New Zealand Dollar (USD/NZD) and the Canadian Dollar (USD/CAD) today and slipped by a worse -0.9% against the Australian Dollar (USD/AUD). The only rise to speak of has been by 0.2% against the Indian Rupee (USD/INR), which is weakened due to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) staff going on strike today.

GBP/USD Exchange Rate Forecast: US Claims Data due Today along with Fed Speeches

With all of the UK economic data now released, the stage is clear for the US results of the afternoon to exert influence on the pairing. The first up will be  the US’s Initial Jobless and Continuing claims, covering the first two weeks of November. Forecasts have been cautiously optimistic for the result, showing minor reductions in the results for both outcomes.

Further ahead, speeches from Fed Bank of Atlanta President Dennis Lockhart and Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer are both due, although given the apparent surety of a US interest rate hike in December, the words of these men may not necessarily generate major ‘Buck’ movement regardless of whether their tones are hawkish or dovish.

Current GBP, USD Exchange Rates

The Pound Sterling to US Dollar (GBP/USD) exchange rate was trending in the region of 1.5267 and the US Dollar to Pound Sterling (USD/GBP) exchange rate was trending in the region of 0.6550 today.

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