GBPUSD briefly topples 1.4300 after UK data
Retail sales were not full of Christmas cheer. On balance you could say it was evened out with the Nov numbers. Shopping patterns have vastly changed now with online shopping so taking the two months together is probably a better guide. The lower revisions though take further polish off.
Borrowing numbers were the big surprise. So much so I don't really believe them so I'm expecting a complete reversal next month.
That said, the lower borrowing was due to increased income tax, national insurance and VAT revenues (definitely not from the oil sector). That is a positive feature of jobs growth but we've got to think that there might be some seasonal factors (holiday hiring etc) behind that. January is when we would expect to see a drop in borrowing, due to the factors above, as that's a big tax filing/payment deadline.
The pound looked to dive on the retails, then turned around on the borrowing numbers. The market is looking up today after the bounce yesterday and for now the shorts are the ones who need to beware.
1.4320/25 is the next resistance, followed by 1.4360/65. 1.4240 is the closest decent support
GBPUSD H4 chart
