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Investing.com - The pound showed little reaction on Thursday after data showing that U.K. retail sales fell in October, while demand for the dollar continued to be underpinned after Wednesday’s Federal Reserve minutes flagged a December rate hike.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5247, from around 1.5252 ahead of the data.
The Office for National Statistics said retail sales fell 0.6% last month, worse than forecasts for a decline of 0.5%.
On a year-over-year basis, retail sales rose 3.8% in October, below expectations for a 4.2% gain, after rising at an annualized rate of 6.2% in September.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, fell 0.9% last month, worse than forecasts for a 0.5% decline after rising 1.5% in September.
The drop in sales came mostly from food and clothing sales, the ONS said.
Sterling was slightly lower against the euro, with EUR/GBP edging up to 0.7005.
The U.S. dollar index, which measures the greenback’s strength against a trade-weighted basket of six major currencies, was down 0.26% to 99.41, easing back from Wednesday’s highs of 99.96, the strongest since April 14.
The drop in the dollar came as investors took profits following the greenback’s rally to seven-month highs.
Wednesday’s minutes of the Fed’s October meeting showed that most officials believe the conditions for raising interest rates could be met by its December meeting.
The U.S. central bank kept rates on hold at its October meeting but sent a strong signal that it may hike rates next month and downplayed concerns over the impact of slowing global growth on the U.S. economy.
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