• EUR/GBP edges higher to near 0.8670 in Monday’s early European session. 
• UK PM Starmer was considering his political future after rival Andy Burnham’s decisive election victory in parliament.
• UK Retail Sales climbed  3.2% YOY in May, beating expectations. 

The EUR/GBP cross gathers strength to around 0.8670 during the early European trading hours on Monday. The British Pound (GBP) weakens against the Euro (EUR) due to political uncertainty in the United Kingdom (UK). European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde is scheduled to speak later in the day. The preliminary readings of Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) from Germany, the Eurozone, and the UK will be highlighted later on Tuesday. 

UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is expected to resign to make way for a new leader. It came as cabinet ally Peter Kyle said the UK leader was considering “political realities” after Andy Burnham’s victory in the Makerfield by-election last week cleared a path for him to challenge for the Labour leadership.

“Markets will be focused on Burnham’s views on fiscal policy and whether there will be any relaxation of the current fiscal rules,” said Commonwealth Bank of Australia strategists, including Kristina Clifton. “A loosening in fiscal rules would likely be poorly received by the UK bond market” and weigh on the pound, they said.

Nonetheless, hotter-than-expected UK Retail Sales data might cap the downside for the GBP. UK Retail sales rose 3.2% year-on-year in May, versus 0.1% prior,  the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Friday. This figure beat market expectations of a 1.9% annual increase. On a monthly basis, Retail sales increased 1.2% in May, following a revised 1% decline in April.

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