Yesterday, the wounded pound got another strong hit after Governor Carney’s dovish remarks raised some doubts as to whether the Bank will indeed push the hike button at its upcoming gathering. As for today, following the disappointment from the BoC meeting on Wednesday, Loonie traders turn their attention to Canada’s CPI data for March.
Sterling Continues Its Free Fall on Retail Sales and BoE Governor Carney’s Comments
The pound continued its free fall yesterday. The British currency traded lower against all but two of the other G10 currencies. The only currencies against which the pound managed to end the day in the green were AUD and NZD. The main gainers against GBP were USD, SEK, and JPY in that order.
Thursday was another bad day for the pound, which is approaching the end of the week 1.2% down (since Monday) against its US counterpart, and 1.3% down against the euro. Sterling came under selling interests as soon as data showed that UK retail sales fell by more than anticipated. Headline sales fell 1.2% mom, more than doubling the forecast for a 0.5% slide, while core sales declined 0.5% mom, a tick more than the forecast of -0.4%.
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