The Pound Sterling experienced only a small improvement after today’s release of unexpectedly upbeat retail sales figures.  Retail sales for October, both on an annual as well as a quarterly basis, beat analysts’ forecasts; however, FX traders appeared to read between the lines at the otherwise dismal data and largely ignored the numbers. Yesterday, the Pound struck a 4-week trough versus the Euro after the release of wage growth figures which showed them failing to keep pace with inflation. For analysts, that suggests the Bank of England is unlikely to raise rates again any time soon.

As reported at 11:04 am (GMT) in London, the EUR/GBP was trading at 0.8919 Pence, a loss of 0.20%; the pair has ranged from a session low of 0.89147 Pence and a peak of 0.89674. The GBP/USD was up 0.19% and trading at $1.3196; earlier the pair hit a low of $1.3134 while the session high is a distant $1.3200.

Looming Brexit Summit Offers Hope

Analysts don’t believe that any data will be game changing data while the Brexit talks are in play. More clarity as it relates to trade between the UK and the Eurozone will be necessary before investors can be assuaged. Investors are hopeful that next month’s summit in Brussels will be viewed as an important milestone for the talks, especially because many businesses will soon need to make investment decisions based on those outcomes.