U.K. consumer confidence falls sharply in November, shows GfK survey

The latest survey from GfK shows that the U.K.’s consumer confidence declined sharply in November. The consumer confidence index fell by five points to -8, as compared with consensus expectations of -3 points. In October, the index had stood at -3. According to GfK, all five of the measures in the index fell in the month.

The index gauging changes in personal finances in the past 12 months dropped two points in November to +1, the same level as seen in 2015. The forecast for personal finances in the coming 12 months has dropped four points to +2 in the month, four points lower than the level seen in November 2015.

Meanwhile, the General Economic Situation index of the country in the last 12 months has fallen six points to -25, down 19 points from the same month last year. Furthermore, expectations for the General Economic Situation in the next 12 months have fallen five points to -22 in November. The Major Purchase Index and the Savings Index dropped nine points and two points to +5 and to -11 points, respectively in November.

“The slump across the board this month points to continuing uncertainty about the state of the economy among consumers. Although scores for our personal financial situation just about remain positive, the big theme is the reduced confidence in the UK economy looking back and ahead”, said Joe Staton, Head of Market Dynamics at GfK.

At 06:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of British Pound was neutral at -49.4475, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was slightly bearish at -50.7886. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex