Forexpros – The pound erased gains against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, pulling back from the daily high following industry data showing that retail sales in the U.K. fell at their fastest pace in over a year last month.
GBP/USD pulled back from 1.6997, the daily high to hit 1.6365 during European afternoon trade, dipping 0.05%.
Cable was likely to find short-term support at 1.6322, the low of August 16 and resistance at 1.6533, Wednesday’s high.
The Confederation of British Industry said its retail sales balance fell to minus 14 in August from minus 5 in July, surpassing expectations for a fall to minus 10. The expected sales balance for September rose to minus 7 from minus 12 for August.
Earlier in the day, U.K. building society Nationwide said its index of consumer confidence fell to 49 in July, from a reading of 51 the previous month.
Trade remained subdued as investors looked to a speech from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke on Friday for any sign of fresh monetary easing measures.
The pound was also lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP rising 0.22% to hit 0.8822.
Later in the day, the U.S. was to publish government data on initial jobless claims.
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