GBP/USD and GBP/JPY sticking out after the release of UK retail sales data, but not yet out of the range of one month low. The pound shot around 0.2 percent to the range 1.2828 against the US dollar, after the publication of UK retail sales data in the middle of the European session this Friday (15 February). 

Pounds also excelled versus Euro and Yen, because it was driven by the same news. However, the GBP/USD currency pair and GBP/JPY are not yet out of a one-month low, as the British parliament refuses to remove the probability of a "Brexit No-Deal". Other news can be accessed through a forex learning page, Didimax where you can learn about forex.

Best Retail Sales Since April 2017

UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced that UK retail sales rose 1.0 percent (Month-over-Month) in January, and posted 4.2 percent growth on a Year-on-Year basis. These figures are far better than the previous period and initial estimates. In particular, YoY's retail sales record is the highest since April 2017. 

This confirms Gertjan Vlieghe's statement yesterday that consumer behavior did not experience significant changes ahead of Brexit. The rapid increase was also experienced by core retail sales (Core Retail Sales). This economic indicator skyrocketed 1.2 percent (Month-over-Month). On an annual basis, core retail sales recorded a rate of increase almost doubled, from 2.9 percent in December to 4.1 percent in January.

PM May Lose Again

Apart from the data released above, the pound still holds the title of the G10 currency with the worst performance this week and has not been able to erase the previous weakening caused by PM Theresa May's fatal defeat in the British parliament. Because, May failed to pass a motion that would remove the probability of "Brexit No-Deal" implicitly. 

Some members of the pro-Brexit Conservative party chose to abstain, so the motion was only able to get 258 VS 308 votes in the vote that took place on Thursday night. For now, analysts think that the probability of a "Brexit No-Deal" is still very low. However, no one dared to say that this would not happen. Consequently, bearish pressure still weighs on the Pound.

Experts from the Goldman Sachs investment bank said they estimated there was a 50 percent chance that an agreement would be ratified, because the majority of British parliamentarians certainly did not want to witness the "Brexit No-Deal". However, they also mentioned a 15 percent probability for the worst case scenario.

England Loses 800 Million Per Week Due To Brexit

Gertjan Vlieghe of the British central bank (BoE) stated that Brexit uncertainty had affected interest rate policy making, in addition to other effects. A bombastic statement was delivered by Dr. Gertjan Vlieghe, one of the members of the Bank of England / BoE monetary policy meeting, in his speech this Thursday (14 / February). 

Jokingly, he said that if calculated in nominal terms, the disappearance of the prospect of a 2 percent UK GDP growth since the start of Brexit could be equal to 800 million Pounds per week. In his speech, Vlieghe explained the economic impact of the blatant planned exit of Britain from the European Union (Brexit). 

According to him, initially companies were "business as usual" in response to the Brexit plan. However, their attitude changes with the predetermined deadline (March 29). Meanwhile, consumer behavior in general did not experience significant changes. 

When asked about how fast the BoE will raise interest rates, Vlieghe warned that the condition of the UK economy was still slowing down, so this was not the right time to do it. BoE needs to witness the stabilization of economic data first, before making policy changes. However, in general, everything depends on Brexit.