British pound sterling in decline despite good retail sales data - is this a 'one off' thanks to the Diamond Jubilee?

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Published on Wednesday, 27 June 2012 14:31

Written by Sam Coventry

According to the CBI, almost 60 pct of retailers reported a rise in sales compared with 17 pct who said sales had fallen.

The pound sterling (Currency:GBP) is in decline across the global FX space today, this despite some good news on the data front.

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"GBP had a very muted reaction following the release, suggesting that market participants are looking through what is expected to have been a one-time upswing that occurred over the course of recent Jubilee celebrations," says an FX market commentary from Scotiabank.

According to the CBI, almost 60 pct of retailers reported a rise in sales compared with 17 pct who said sales had fallen, giving an overall figure for the CBI's distributive trades index of +42% – the strongest reading since December 2010.

Retailers considered the volume of sales to be below average for the time of year, giving an index figure of -10pct.

Pound exchange rates today

The pound dollar exchange rate is 0.45 pct down at 1.5570.

The pound Euro exchange rate is is 0.28 pct lower on Wednesday's closing level, GBP/EUR is at 1.2490.

The pound Australian dollar exchange rate is 0.63 pct lower at 1.5449.