US retail sales beat expectations

Key Movers

The euro was slightly down against the dollar and the pound on Friday, still trading under 1.16 after one European Central Bank policymaker dismissed concerns over inflation. EURUSD was trading around 1.5938 at the time of writing.

Demand for the pound rose against the US dollar and the euro on Friday, helped by a softer USD and analyst expectations that the Bank of England will raise rates soon. GBPUSD was up 0.64%, trading around 1.3760 at the time of writing. However there are plenty of potential hazards ahead for sterling. Daily COVID-19 cases are pushing higher with yesterday’s 45k the highest since July. The recent huge rise in energy costs is also starting to affect businesses, although consumers are protected by legislation from the worst of this sharp spike in wholesale gas prices. With inflation on the rise, Wednesday’s CPI print will be the next key data release from the UK.

The New Zealand dollar continued to make some gains against USD and EUR on Friday as investors backed stocks and risk-oriented assets like the NZD. NZDUSD was up 0.62% trading at 0.70716 at the time of writing. On Thursday, The NZD led gains across major currencies, up over 1% against the USD and 1.4% against the yen, while enjoying strong support against the EUR, GBP and CHF.