The pound lost over two cents against the dollar yesterday following the latest FOMC meeting but did manage to recover some of the lost ground this morning after UK retail sales figures smashed expectations.
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During yesterday's conference Fed Chair Janet Yellen announced the Federal Reserve will would be "patient" when deciding to raise interest rates. Previously the Fed had stated that interest rates would remain low for a considerable amount of time, so this change in stance helped strengthen the dollar, with GBP/USD exchange rates dropping from $1.5777 to a low of $1.5548.
Mrs Yellen went on to stay there would be no immediate rate hike and that being "patient" meant the central bank was unlikely to raise rates for at least a couple of meetings.
Retails figures trigger recovery.
The pound did manage to claw back some of ground it lost last yesterday after UK retails figures rose at their fastest pace in more than a decade. It seems Black Friday helped boost sales in November after figures released by the Office of National Statistics showed sales climbed by 1.6% month on month, the forecast had only been for a 0.3% rise.
The release had an immediate impact on the currency markets with the pound gaining ground against most of its major counterparts. The GBP/USD cross rose almost a cent climbing from $1.5555 to $1.5648 bringing back into the range we have witnessed for the last few trading sessions.
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