GBP/USD falls below 1.3500 handle amid rising US Treasury yields

• The 10-year Treasury yield benchmark is broke above the 3.05% mark, rising to the highest level since 2011.
• Both headline and core US retail sales for April came in below expectations rising 0.3% m/m while the control group of retail sales included in the GDP report rose in line with the expectations of% m/m.
• GBP/USD push below 1.3500 handle despite the mixed US-data as the focus remains rising US bond yields. 

The GBP/USD pair is trading at around 1.3460 down 0.70% on Tuesday as the 10-year Treasury yield rose above the 3.05% mark. 

Meanwhile, the US Retail Sales for April (ex Autos) came in below expectations at 0.3% vs. 0.4% expected by analysts while the Retail Sales Control Group matched analysts’ expectations at 0.4% in April. Traders discarded the mixed US-data as the focus remains on rising bond yields. The pair dropped below the 1.3500 handle after the release.

Looking back, in Asia, GBP/USD remained capped below the 1.3575 level and declined to 1.3515 before the release of the US retail sales data at 12:30 GMT.

Earlier in the day, the UK wages came in line with analysts expectations and failed to impress GBP bulls which were overwhelmed by the US Treasury yields rising well above 3.000% in support of the US Dollar. 

On the broader picture, the GBP is rather weak as the Bank of England decided to push back its interest rate hike forecast in May for the summer or the autumn.