The UK retail sales grew 0.5% m/m in January, improving the fall of 0.3% expected by the consensus. The December data has been revised downward, from -1% to -1.2%. January is the first rise after two months of consecutive declines.
On a year-over-year basis, retail sales fell 5.1%, moderating the 6.1% decline seen in the prior month (revised down from -5.8%) and improving on the 5.5% decline expected. This is the seventh consecutive month of declines for the indicator.
Excluding fuel, the indicator grew 0.4% in January, above the 0% forecast and the previous -1.4%. YoY, retail sales excluding fuel fell 5.3%, as expected, moderating the 6.5% decline seen the previous month.
GBP/USD reaction
The British pound is falling against the dollar since the start of the day. He GBP/USD it has lost close to 60 pips in the last few hours, dipping to a six-week low of 1.1932 just before the UK data. At time of writing, the pair is trading above 1.1938, losing 0.45% on the day.
Source: Fx Street
I am Joshua Winder, a senior-level journalist and editor at World Stock Market. I specialize in covering news related to the stock market and economic trends. With more than 8 years of experience in this field, I have become an expert in financial reporting.
