GBP/USD – Another strong week for the British pound, will US retail sales slip?

• British pound has jumped close to 500 points over past five weeks
• UK economy grappling with high inflation, widespread strikes
• US retail sales expected to decline in March

British pound rallies, but UK economy struggling

The British pound is poised to post its fifth successive winning week. During this time, the GBP/USD has sparkled, rallying almost 500 points.

This week’s UK releases have not been as positive as the pound’s upswing. GDP was flat in February on a monthly basis, down from 0.4% in January and unable to hit the estimate of 0.1%. Manufacturing Production was also flat and Industrial Production came in at -0.2%.

Inflation remains in double digits, despite the Bank of England’s aggressive rate policy, which has raised the benchmark cash rate to 4.25%. The combination of high inflation and rising interest rates has created a cost-of-living crisis and is weighing on businesses as well. To make things even worse, the country has been hit by widespread strikes in the public sector, as workers protest the drop in real income due to soaring inflation. An IMF forecast released this week indicated that the UK economy is projected to be the worst performer in the G20, which includes Russia.

The economic situation isn’t pretty, and the government and the BoE are under strong pressure to right the ship, and fast. Finance Minister Hunt has said he’ll cut inflation in half and a recession can be avoided, but it’s hard to share his optimism.

US retail sales expected to decline

This week pointed to further deceleration in inflation levels in the US. Headline CPI fell to 5.9%, down from 5.0%, although the core rate nudged up to 5.6%, up from 5.5%. The Producer Price Index declined to 2.7%, down sharply from 3.4%, and the core rate eased to 3.4%, down from 4.8%.

Will the drop in inflation be accompanied by a decline in consumer spending? The markets are bracing for a soft retail sales report for March. Headline retail sales is expected to fall by 0.4% y/y and the core rate is projected to decline by 0.3% y/y.  A weak release could push the US dollar lower, as there will be more pressure on the Fed to consider pausing its rate hikes at the May meeting.

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GBP/USD Technical

• GBP/USD touched resistance at 1.2537 earlier. The next resistance line is 1.2656
• There is support at 1.2405 and 1.2282

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