The British pound advances against the majors as global markets witness a fresh sell-off following last night's FOMC / Bernanke (above) show; ahead  for GBP we have UK retail sales which, while of interest, is unlikely to turn attention from the current market selloff.

Highlights:

@9:34: Boost for GBP as retail sales obliterate expectations  

16:34: What does tomorrow hold for GBP?

There is only one announcement of importance out of the UK economy tomorrow, Public Sector Net Borrowing for May:

"The Net Borrowing released by the National Statistics captures an amount of new debt held by the U.K. governments (the financial deficit in the UK national accounts). Generally speaking, if the Net Borrowing is negative, it means the UK Accounts are surplus, and that should be positive for the GBP. While a deficit is generally unfavorable for the economy, a growth in the Net Borrowing is considered as negative, or bearish for the GBP," say Alpari UK.

Analysts are forecasting a reading of £13.750B, a sight higher than last month's £8.035B.

13:10: Sterling continues to enjoy the market selloff

A look at the three 'bellwether' exchange rates we follow shows GBP continues to enjoy today's challenging market conditions (except for GBP-USD, USD is today's clear winner):

GBP-EUR is 0.46 pct up on Wednesday's close at 1.1701.
GBP-USD is 0.22 pct down at 1.5449.
GBP-AUD is 0.62 pct higher at 1.6765.

Please note that these numbers are taken from the wholesale markets; your bank will affix their own discretionary spread. However, an independent FX provider will guarantee to undercut your bank's offer, thus delivering you more currency. Please find out more here.

10:44: Nothing seems safe!

Read about the dire state of equity markets today, and how it has benefited the US dollar.

 Worth noting that the British pound is one of the safe harbours in the storm. Good form.
 

9:34: Boost for GBP as retail sales improve

Good news for the sterling bulls as UK retail sales obliterate expectations.

The Year on Year figure shows last month retail sales shot up 1.9 pct; analysts were expecting an improvement of 0.2 pct. Last month's figure was 0.8 pct.

Yet another beat from the UK economy.

"EUR/GBP has declined in the immediate reaction to UK Retail Sales data," note FX Street.

8:55: Spot rates

A look at the state of the British pound sterling (Currency:GBP) this morning shows a liking to the current turmoil being seen across equity and commodity markets today:

The pound euro exchange rate is 0.31 pct up on last night's closing rate at 1.1683.
The pound US dollar exchange rate is 0.33 pct down at 1.5435.
The pound Australian dollar exchange rate is 1 pct higher at 1.6840.

8:45: The agenda for sterling

Lloyds Bank Research tell us what lies ahead on the economic front for GBP today:

"Following on from yesterday’s FOMC meeting and the unofficial China flash manufacturing PMI release earlier this morning, attention returns to some key economic data releases today.

"In the morning session, the key focus will be on official UK retail sales, as well as the flash euro area PMIs. The afternoon session sees the release of the US Philadephia Fed survey and existing home sales.

"For UK retail sales including fuel, we expect a sharp, above-consensus rebound of 1.3% in May, reversing the decline of the same magnitude in April. The BRC reported a surge in total sales of 3.4% in May after a 0.6% fall in the previous month, helped by the spell of warm weather and more aggressive discounting."