GBPUSD Recovers Despite Poor UK Retail Sales

* The downward streak of the British Pound came to an end today, as it was seen trading higher against the US dollar.

* The GBPUSD pair traded higher above the 1.4250 level, and was seen challenging the 1.4300 area.

* The UK Retail Sales will be released by the National Statistics posted a decline of 1% in December 2015, more than the forecast of -0.3%.

* The yearly change was also on the lower side, as it rose 2.6%, less than the forecast of 4.3%.

UK Retail Sales

The UK Retail Sales measuring the total receipts of retail stores, and which points to percent changes reflect the rate of changes of such sales was reported by the National Statistics. The market was expecting a decrease of 0.3% in December 2015, compared with the preceding month. However, the result missed the mark completely, as there was a decline of 1% in December 2015.

Looking at the yearly change, the UK Retail Sales was forecasted to rise by 4.3% in December 2015, compared with Dec 2014, but against the outcome was lower. The UK Retail Sales rose only 2.6%. Overall, the report was very disappointing. However, we cannot discard that the GBPUSD is trading around oversold levels, which is the reason why there was hardly any impact on it.

The report highlighted that “Average store prices (including petrol stations) fell by 3.2% in December 2015 compared with December 2014, the 18th consecutive month of year-on-year price falls. The amount spent in the retail industry decreased by 1.0% in December 2015 compared with December 2014 and decreased by 1.4% compared with November 2015“.

The GBPUSD continued to trade higher, as it tested the 1.4300 resistance area.

Technical Analysis – GBPUSD

The GBPUSD pair gained bids near the 1.4200 support area today, and moved higher. It even managed to trade above the 1.4280 resistance area for a test of the 1.4300 area. A break above the stated level could take the pair next towards the 1.4350 level.