The British pound has posted gains on Friday. In the European session, GBP/USD is trading at 1.3484, up 0.49% on the day. The pound has gained 1.5% this week and is trading at levels not seen since Feb. 2022.
UK retail sales surge 5% in April
The markets were expecting a banner reading from April retail sales but the actual numbers crushed the forecast. Annual retail sales surged 5%, up from a downwardly revised 1.9% and above the market estimate of 4.5%. This marked the fastest pace of growth since Feb. 2022.
Monthly, retail sales climbed 1.2%, up from a downwardly revised 0.3% in March and blowing past the market estimate of 0.2%. The surge was driven by sharp gains in food store sales and department stores, as favorable weather brought out consumers.
/*
Requesting advertisement by calling an endpoint assures that
the advertisement is never cached together with the page.
BAYTR – is a forced measure to prevent JS function from
being overwritten.
*/
function load_advertisement_BAYTR(){
let adSlot = document.getElementById(‘ad-slot-container-BAYTR’);
fetch(‘/load-advertisement/26/?is_sidebar=False’)
.then(response => response.text())
.then(html => {
adSlot.outerHTML = html;
})
.catch(error => {
console.error(‘Error fetching the template:’, error);
});
}
load_advertisement_BAYTR();
The UK economy has been struggling and strong consumer spending has been a bright spot. Monthly retail sales have now increased for four straight months, which last occurred in 2020.
The UK consumer spending more and is showing more optimism. The GfK consumer confidence index for May improved to -20 from -23 and beat the market estimate of -22. The improvement is likely a result of the de-escalation in global trade tensions as well as the Bank of England rate cut in early May.
The impressive retail sales report, together with higher-than-expected inflation in April will raise expectations for the BoE to hold rates at its next meeting on June 18.
There are no key US releases today but we’ll hear from three FOMC members. There has been plenty of Fedspeak this week, with a message that the US tariffs will take a toll on the US economy, even with the temporary deal with China, and that the Fed favors a wait-and-see stance before further rate cuts.
GBP/USD Technical
- GBP/USD has broken above several resistance lines and is putting pressure in resistance at 1.3493.
- There is support at 1.3393 and 1.3367
const imageElement = document.getElementById(‘pinch-to-zoom-img-688’);
if (imageElement) {
panzoom(imageElement, {
maxZoom: 4.0,
minZoom: 0.5,
contain: ‘outside’,
});
}
}, 100);
}
}
}”
x-init=”$watch(‘imgModal’, value => initPanzoom())”
class=”flex “>
GBPUSD 1-Day Chart, May 25, 2025
/*
Requesting advertisement by calling an endpoint assures that
the advertisement is never cached together with the page.
MjyK9 – is a forced measure to prevent JS function from
being overwritten.
*/
function load_advertisement_MjyK9(){
let adSlot = document.getElementById(‘ad-slot-container-MjyK9’);
fetch(‘/load-advertisement/30/?is_sidebar=False’)
.then(response => response.text())
.then(html => {
adSlot.outerHTML = html;
})
.catch(error => {
console.error(‘Error fetching the template:’, error);
});
}
load_advertisement_MjyK9();
Opinions are the authors’; not necessarily that of OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors.
If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please refer to the MarketPulse Terms of Use.
Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets.
© {CURRENT_YEAR} OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.
