Pound Trades Sideways on Failed Brexit Talks and Weak UK Retail Sales

The  British pound today traded sideways against the  US dollar following the  failed Brexit talks during yesterday’s meetings between EU leaders and British PM Theresa May. The  pound was further weighed down by  the  release of  the  latest UK retail sales data in  the  early European session, which missed expectations by  a  significant margin.
The  GBP/USD currency pair today traded in  a  range marked by  a  high of  1.3131 and  a  low of  1.3075 and  was within this range at  the  time of  writing.
The  currency pair opened today’s session on  a  downward trend as  a  result of  yesterday’s disastrous Brexit talks where little to  no progress was made. The  EU leaders were so disappointed by  the  results of  the  meeting that they even canceled the  Brexit meeting that was scheduled for  November. The  cancellation of  the  November meeting dampened investor sentiment towards the  pound as  markets prepared for  the  possibility of  a  no-deal Brexit. The  pair rallied slightly after the  release of  the  UK retail sales data by  the  Office for  National Statistics.
The  headline and  core retail sales prints both declined by  0.8% in  September versus the  expected 0.4% contraction. This translated into annualized prints of  3.0% and  3.2% respectively. The  release of  the  positive US initial jobless claims data by  the  Department of  Labor and  the  Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Business Outlook Survey dragged the  pair lower.
The  currency pair’s performance is likely to  be influenced by  Brexit headlines and  tomorrow’s UK public sector finances.
The  GBP/USD currency pair was trading at  1.3097 as  at  13:37 GMT having dropped from a  high of  1.3131. The  GBP/JPY currency pair was trading at  147.36 having declined from a  high of  147.73.

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