British pound retreats from 2-month high against US dollar

British pound fell on the European market on Friday against a basket of global currencies on its way to the first loss in three days against US dollar, after yesterday's biggest daily gain against the greenback, amid corrections and profit-taking activity and after the recovery of US dollar against a basket of major and minor currencies.

As of 07:05 GMT, GBP/USD fell by 0.2% to $1.2522, from the opening price of the day at $1.2545, with the highest at $1.2556 and the lowest at $1.2516.

Yesterday, the pound gained 0.9% against dollar, its second daily gain in a row, and the biggest daily gain since May 3.

This broad daily gain came in after better-than-expected retail sales in Britain, while the US dollar fell after a Fed member's comments.

British retail sales rose 1% in June unexpectedly, beating forecasts of 0.3% drop, while the sales fell by 0.6% in May. The data reduced fears of a slowdown in the UK economy in the second quarter of this year.

The dollar index rose more than 0.2% on Friday, recovering from a two-week low of 96.67 points, reflecting the greenback rise again against a basket of major and minor currencies.

New York's Federal Reserve Chairman John Williams on Thursday called for preventive measures to avoid having to deal with very low inflation and interest rates.

A representative of the New York Reserve Bank later said that Williams' comments were academic and not related to immediate monetary policy guidance.

Following Williams' comments, the prospects for the Federal Reserve's interest rates cut by 50 basis points at the next meeting late this month jumped to 70 percent and fell again to about 40 percent after the representative of the bank clarified.

Over the course of the week, the pound has so far lost 0.4% against the US dollar, the third weekly loss in a month, on fears of the UK's exit from the EU without an agreement with the increasing signs of victory of "Boris Johnson" to head the British government.