U.K. retail sales post surprise rise in November as Black Friday discounts encourage consumer spending

Retail sales in the United Kingdom surprisingly rose during the month of November, following heavy discounts on the occasion of Black Friday that attracted customers to spend on electronics and household items.

The volume of goods sold in stores and online rose 0.2 percent from October, data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Thursday. No change was forecast in a Bloomberg survey.

Excluding auto fuel, sales were up 0.5 percent. Non-store sales, which include online shopping, jumped 3.8 percent. The ONS survey period ended on November 26, the day after Black Friday. The increase follows a 1.8 percent jump in October when cooler temperatures spurred demand for winter clothing. It means sales will grow in the fourth quarter unless they drop an unprecedented 6.9 percent in December.

Further, sales of household goods soared 6 percent on the month, the most since February 2010. Sales at department stores rose 1 percent. Clothing and footwear sales dropped 1.4 percent after October’s surge and food sales declined.

Petroleum sales fell 2.2 percent to their lowest level in two years as prices increased at the fastest pace since 2011. From a year earlier, total retail sales rose 5.9 percent. They were up 2.1 percent in the latest three months, the most since early 2015.

Meanwhile, the GBP/USD traded at 1.25, down -0.25 percent, while at 11:00GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index remained highly bullish at 135.22 (a reading above +75 indicates a bullish trend, while that below -75 a bearish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex