Chinese Retail Sales, ECB Speech, and GBP/EUR Turbulence

Written by

Anthony Bull

Daily Currency Update

French President Emmanuel Macron's

Chinese Retail Sales, ECB Speech, and GBP/EUR Turbulence

At 2:00 AM, Chinese Retail Sales came out at 3.7% YoY for the month of May, well above the consensus expectation of 3% and above April’s reading at 2.3%. However, compared to last month, this just represents a 0.2% gain, setting a more cautiously optimistic view.

Speech by the President Christine Lagarde, will kick off at 10.00 AM. Investors and analysts will pay attention to trying to parse her comments for clues regarding possible monetary policy.

Last Friday, the GBP/EUR showed volatility, largely due to political uncertainties. French President Emmanuel Macron’s decision to suddenly call national elections poured fresh volatility into markets. The jitters were especially reflected in French stocks and bonds amid fears of a Liz Truss-style market panic. Le Maire further cautioned that a new alliance of left-wing parties could lead to an “economic collapse” if they gained power.

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The GBP/USD pair is slightly down today and trading at 1.2675. All eyes on tomorrow’s US retail sales data that may further influence the pair.

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