GBP/SGD settles below 3-week high, posts weekly gain

The GBP/SGD currency pair settled below Friday’s high of 1.7397, its strongest level since May 2nd, after Singapore’s CPI data and a stronger-than-anticipated UK retail sales growth.

Data by the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday that retail sales volumes had risen 1.2% in April compared to March, beating economists’ forecasts of a 0.3% gain. This marked the fourth consecutive monthly growth, the first of its kind in almost five years.

Food store sales saw a notable rebound, climbing 3.9% after consecutive declines in the preceding two months. Yet, clothing and footwear sales declined over the month despite gains in department stores, household goods outlets and non-store retailers.

Ofgem further relieved pressure on UK consumers by imposing a 7% decrease on the country’s energy price cap. Effective July, this cut follows a series of prior hikes.

Despite the upbeat data, inflation remains a concern. Consumer prices rose 3.5% in April, higher than what market analysts had been anticipating. This tempered expectations of aggressive policy easing by the BoE, though the probability of a rate cut in August still stands at around 50%.

In Singapore, annual consumer inflation remained steady at 0.9% in April – the lowest rate since February 2021.

And, annual core CPI inflation picked up to a three-month high of 0.7% in April from 0.5% in March.

The GBP/SGD currency pair settled 0.29% higher at 1.7395 on Friday.

The exotic Forex pair gained 0.75% for the week.