It was a mixed trading session for the British Pound Sterling, GBP, on Friday, January 20. The GBPUSD, -0.1378% slumped against the dollar the data Friday showed retail sales declined 1.9% in December on a month-over-month basis, the slowest pace of growth since 2012.
Nonetheless, after sliding to an intraday low of $1.2261 against the dollar in morning trade following the release of UK retail sales data, the pound has now regained momentum. It is currently trading up 0.16pc on the day at $1.2322.
The pound fell to as low as $1.2283, but recovered somewhat since. In late morning Friday, the pound bought $1.2322, only slightly down from $1.2334 late Thursday.
Meanwhile, the European Central Bank left rates unchanged on Thursday while ECB President Mario Draghi said the bank can expand its quantitative-easing program if needed.
The euro EURUSD, +0.0844% strengthened to $1.0675 from $1.0656 late Thursday. Against its Japanese counterpart, the greenback USDJPY, +0.06% gained upside momentum to hit as high as ¥115.38. It has changing hands at ¥114.99, little-changed from levels late Thursday in New York.
