Investing.com - The pound edged lower against the U.S. dollar on Thursday, after the release of downbeat U.K. retail sales data dampened optimism over the strength of the British economy.
GBP/USD hit 1.4305 during European morning trade, the pair’s lowest since Tuesday; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.4309, slipping 0.16%.
Cable was likely to find support at 1.4128, the low of April 18 and resistance at 1.4409, Wednesday’s high.
The U.K. Office for National Statistics said that retail sales fell 1.3% in March, compared to the prior 0.5% drop whose figure was revised from the original 0.4% decrease. Analysts had expected retail sales to slip 0.1% last month.
Year-on-year, retail sales increased 2.7%, compared to expectations for a 4.4% rise.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, fell 1.6% on the month, compared to the prior 0.3% drop in February, whose figure was revised from an initial 0.2% decline. Analysts had expected core retail sales to fall 0.4% last month.
A separate report showed that U.K. public sector net borrowing rose by £4.16 billion in March after an increase of £6.49 billion the previous month. Analysts had expected public sector net borrowing to rise by £5.50 billion last month.
Meanwhile, sentiment on the greenback became fragile as investors turned to upcoming reports on U.S. unemployment claims and manufacturing activity in the Philadelphia area, due later in the day.
The U.S. dollar had strengthened after the U.S. National Association of Retailers said on Wednesday that existing home sales rose 5.1% in March to 5.33 million units in March, beating expectations for a 3.5% increase to 5.30 million units.
Sterling was also lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP adding 0.14% to 0.7890.