U.K. retail sales expand weaker than expectations in January

Retail sales in the U.K. saw a rise of just 0.1 percent in sequential terms in January, as compared with the decline of 1.4 percent in the prior month and consensus expectations of a rise of 0.5 percent. Declines were seen throughout all main sectors except non-food stores.

On a year-on-year basis, retail sales rose 1.6 percent, decelerating from a rise of 2.4 percent in January 2017. Non-food stores mainly contributed to the year-on-year growth, with sports equipment, games and toys increasing sales in the quantity bought in this sector by 10.9 percent, said the Office for National Statistics.

Feedback from retailers implied that New Year’s resolutions to “get fit and lose weight” added to this increase of sales when compared with the earlier year. The year-on-year growth rate for quantity bough in food stores indicated a decline for the sixth straight month at negative 0.9 percent, mainly because of a continued increase in food store prices.

“Retail sales growth was broadly flat at the beginning of the New Year with the longer-term picture showing a continued slowdown in the sector. This can partly be attributed to a background of generally rising prices. Growth in the quantity of sporting equipment, games and toys being bought was offset by falling food sales when compared with the same month a year earlier”, stated Rhian Murphy, Office for National Statistics Senior Statistician.

At 16:00 GMT the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of British Pound was neutral at -40.953, while the FxWirePro's Hourly Strength Index of US Dollar was highly bearish at -123.414. For more details on FxWirePro's Currency Strength Index, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex

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