Forex Pros – The euro extended losses against the pound on Tuesday, falling to a fresh three-day low after official data showed that retail sales in the euro zone slumped in May, posting their biggest fall in a year.
EUR/GBP hit 0.8984 during European morning trade, the pair’s lowest since June 30; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.8989, shedding 0.55%.
The pair was likely to find support at 0.8965, the low of June 29 and resistance at 0.9066, Monday’s high and an almost 15-month high.
Eurostat said the month-on-month volume of retail sales fell by 1.1% in May, with Germany reporting a fall of 2.8% and Portugal dropping 3.1%.
The May figure represents a fall of 1.9% from the same month last year.
The report said the sharp drop was largely due to a drop of 0.9% in the non-food sector, such as sales of electrical goods and clothing.
Analysts had forecast a 1% monthly fall and a 0.6% annual decline.
Earlier in the day, a separate report showed that the euro zone’s services sector grew less than initially projected in June, falling to an eight-month low.
The euro was also lower against the U.S. dollar, with EUR/USD shedding 0.49% to hit 1.4469.
Also Tuesday, official data showed that service sector activity in the U.K. rose unexpectedly last month.
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