Forexpros – The pound dipped against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, despite an unexpected rise in U.K. retail sales as ongoing concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone curbed demand for riskier assets.
GBP/USD hit 1.5691 during early European afternoon trade, the pair’s lowest since October 20; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.5720, inching down 0.03%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.5631, the low of October 18 and resistance at 1.5846, the high of October 19.
Spain’s Treasury sold EUR3.56 billion of 10-year bonds at a yield of 6.97% compared with 5.43% when it auctioned debt maturing in April 2021 last month. The bank had set a maximum target of EUR4 billion for the sale.
Meanwhile, France sold EUR3.33 billion of 2016 notes at a yield of 2.82% compared to 2.31% at a similar auction last month, fanning fears over sovereign debt contagion to core euro zone economies.
Following the auction, the European Central Bank resumed purchases of Spanish government debt to ease pressure on borrowing costs.
Earlier in the day, official data showed that U.K. retail sales rose unexpectedly in October, climbing 0.6% after a 0.5% rise the previous month. Analysts had expected retail sales to fall 0.2% in October.
A separate report showed that the Nationwide Building Society’s index of U.K. consumer confidence fell to an all-time low in October.
Elsewhere, the pound was up against the euro with EUR/GBP shedding 0.07%, to trade at 0.8549.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to release official data on initial jobless claims, building permits and housing starts and a report on manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia region.
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