EUR/GBP marches towards 0.8360 ahead of UK’s Retail Sales, EU unsettle on Russian oil

• EUR/GBP is advancing towards 0.8360 on the expectation of weak UK Retail Sales.
• Delay on the immediate embargo of Russian oil has supported Euro.
• Germany has advocated a gradual shift to other oil importers.

The EUR/GBP pair is scaling towards 0.8360 as investors are awaiting monthly and yearly Retail Sales from UK’s Office for National Statistics. The cross is holding its two-day winning streak on Friday and is likely to extend its gains after surpassing Thursday’s high at 0.8350 decisively.

A preliminary estimate for the monthly and yearly UK’s Retail Sales is 0.6% and 7.8% respectively. However, the previous prints were 1.9% for monthly Retail Sales and 9.1% for the yearly period. Therefore, an underperformance is expected from the UK’s Retail Sales macro indicator, which is underpinning the shared currency against the sterling.

The shared currency has witnessed a broad-based buying on Friday as European Union (EU) leaders summit failed to settle on the decision of banning Russian oil with immediate effect. Views from the EU players were contrasting as some members were favoring an overnight ban on Russian oil while others were favoring stability in their respective economies. Nations that are more dependent on Russian oil in comparison with the EU’s average Russian oil imports have advocated a gradual shift to other oil importers citing devastating effects on their economy in case the embargo on Russian oil gets approval. Germany, which caters 55% of its gas demand from Russia, will face rapid unemployment on the immediate prohibition of Russia’s black gold.

Going forward, investors will focus on Euro’s Consumer Confidence, which is due next week. The previous print of Euro’s Consumer Confidence remained at -18.7.