Trading Update
17-Jan-14, 9:42am:

GBP/USD Rallies Sharply on Positive UK Retail Sales Data



UK retail sales rose 2.1% in December i.e. far better than the 0.5% figure that was expected.

Looking at the GBP/USD chart, the market has seen a sharp rally.

Update by Jacob Wood, Editor,
17-Jan-14, 9:42am:

Better-than-Expected UK Retail Sales



UK retail sales for December were up 2.1%, considerably better than the expected 0.5% rise.

The FTSE hasn’t reacted much but GBP/USD has spiked.

Update by Jacob Wood, Editor,
17-Jan-14, 10:38am:

Dow and FTSE Looking a Little Softer



Here’s a quick technical analysis update on the markets.



Update by Craig Inglis, Head of Product Development,
17-Jan-14, 10:39am:

GBP/USD Spikes Over 100 Points on UK Retail Data



If you look at a 5 minute GBP/USD chart you can see a very nice spike for buyers of GBP/USD.

UK retail sales for December were expected to come in at 0.5%.

They were actually far better than expected and came in this morning at 2.1%.

What does this mean for the market? Not that much yet.

If you change the chart to show 4 hour data or 1 day data, you can see GBP/USD is still firmly within the range of the last 6 weeks.

With GBP and USD both potentially strong this year, this market could be pretty dull in 2014.

Update by Jacob Wood, Editor,
17-Jan-14, 11:45am: Is Sterling Too Strong for the UK Economy?

The latest trading video on the CleanFinancial.com blog questions how inflation may affect the pound and UK equities.

Does Sterling Need to Weaken as Inflation Hits BoE’s Target?

Update by Gordon Childs, Editor,