Euro remains depressed near 0.8650 against the British Pound despite upbeat German data

• EUR/GBP flatlines around 0.8650 despite positive German data.
• The German economy grew at a steady 0.3% pace in Q1, according to GDP figures.
• UK Retail Sales contracted way beyond expectations in April
  

The Euro (EUR) languishes at 11-day lows against the British Pound (GBP) on Friday, on track for a 0.85% weekly loss. The positive German Gross Domestic Product (GDP) data has failed to support the common currency, while the Pound has been unfazed by weak Retail Sales numbers.

German GDP confirmed that the Eurozone’s leading economy grew at a 0.3% pace in the first three months of the year, unchanged from the previous quarter, while the yearly GDP was revised up to 0.4% from previous estimations of a 0.3% growth.

At the same time, NIQ revealed that the German GfK Consumer Confidence Survey for June picked up to -29.8, from an upwardly revised -33.1 in May. These are still negative levels, but closer to the figures seen before Iran’s war and, anyway, better than the -34 market consensus. The impact on the Euro, however, has been muted so far.

In the UK,  data from National Statistics has shown that Retail Sales contracted at a 1.3% pace in April, more than twice the 0.6% decline expected by the market, following a 0.6% increase in March. Excluding fuel, sales of all other products dropped a more moderate 0.4%, but also beyond the 0.3% drop expected, following a 0.1% increase in March. 

The Sterling, nevertheless, has managed to take back all the ground lost during the previous one, as market concerns about the country’s political stability seem to have ebbed. Apart from that, business activity showed further resilience in the UK than in the Eurozone on Thursday, which provided an additional boost to the GBP