Extended its recovery off Wednesday lows of...>

CABLE: Extended its recovery off Wednesday lows of $1.2662 post fix to $1.2711

before it settled around $1.2700 into the close. Traders aware that the $1.2700

level holds the strike of a decent sized option expiry for today's NY cut,

Gbp1.74bn total, 1.69bn of Gbp puts. Early drift to $1.2686 in Asia before China

headlines, Chinese trade official to visit US late August, boosted risk outlook

and took cable to an eventual high in Asia of $1.2727 ahead of Europe. This risk

tone attracted in further demand into the new session and lifted the rate on to

$1.2733. Noticeable that cable's rise has trailed the stronger EUR/USD recovery,

thus allowing EUR/GBP to extend its recovery, off Wednesday lows of Gbp0.8901 to

Gbp0.8952(38.2% Gbp0.9031-0.8903) where it has met resistance. UK Retail Sales

data due this morning at 0830GMT. MNI median seen flat mm following a weak June

figure. Deep discounting in the summer sales, which showed up in Wednesday's

CPI, expected to prompt a rebound in sales. Failure to concern. Some looking

toward the EU today for some possible positive noises as regards Brexit

discussions.