Pound slides versus dollar ahead of U.K. retail, housing data

NEW YORK (Forex News Now) – Sterling slid against the dollar on Monday, hitting a fresh daily low, as FX traders awaited the release of reports on Britain’s retail sector and housing market.

In early European currency trading, GBP/USD hit 1.5942, the daily low. The currency pair later rose slightly to trade at 1.5956, down 0.05 percent on the day.

The pound’s losses came as risk appetite diminished in the wake of Friday’s disappointing Labor Department data on nonfarm payrolls, which showed that the U.S. economy lost more jobs than expected in July, while the unemployment rate held steady at 9.5 percent.

According to forex analysis, GBP/USD is likely to touch immediate support around Thursday’s low, 1.582, and encounter resistance around the high of Jan. 28, 1.6276.

Later Monday, the British Retail Consortium, a trade group, was set to publish a monthly report on retail sales; and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, another industry group, was due to release data on U.K. house prices.

Elsewhere, sterling fell slightly versus the euro: EUR/GBP traded at 0.833, up 0.04 percent.