Sterling fell below the 1.30 level for the first time in the last 10 months, following weak UK Retail Sales data in June, as well as inflation data that came in below expectations yesterday and uncertainty about how Britain will leave the European Union.
Retail sales fell by 0.5%, sending Sterling pound to 1.2957 levels, the lowest level since September 2017, despite retail sales hitting a decade high of 2.1% in the first quarter of 2018 on a quarterly basis.
Market expectations remain on the UK interest rate hike at the August meeting, with markets pricing in 70% rates hike by about a quarter basis point of.
The US Dollar rose today to its highest level in a year, following optimistic comments on the US economy from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell during his testimony before Parliament. The dollar index rose to a high of 95.65 the highest since mid-July 2017, a rise of 6% against rivals in the past three months.
Earlier in the day, the Australian dollar rose to its highest level against the US dollar since the beginning of the week at 0.7441, following strong Australian employment data. The economy added 50.9 thousand jobs in June, the highest since November last year, but the Australian dollar quickly reverted to decline strongly after stabilizing below downtrend after testing the broken ascending channel to hit its lowest level since July 3 at 0.7322.
