U.K. retail sales growth highest in 14 years following higher buying during Halloween week

Retail sales in the United Kingdom grew at the highest pace in 14 years, following the surge in shopping spree by Britons on the eve of Halloween. Also, a colder weather lifted sales of winter clothes and supermarket necessities.

Retail sales volumes jumped by 1.9 percent on the month in October after edging up 0.1 percent in September, data released by the Office for National Statistics showed Thursday, almost double the highest forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.

Further, compared with a year earlier, sales volumes were up 7.4 percent last month versus forecasts for a 5.3 percent rise and 4.2 percent growth recorded in September, the biggest annual rise since April 2002. Clothing sales gained 5.1 percent on the month, their biggest rise since March 2014, while internet sales were more than a quarter higher than in October 2015.

In addition, a 26.8 percent annual rise in the value of Internet sales was the biggest since January 2011. However, a revival in the country’s retail sales may not hold good to offset the ongoing resilience after the Brexit vote on June 23.

Longer term, the Bank of England and many other economists are concerned that rising prices will reduce households' disposable income, and Thursday's figures also showed store prices falling at the slowest pace since July 2014, Reuters reported.

Meanwhile, the GBP/USD remained bullish at 1.246, up 0.35 percent, largely recovering from yesterday’s losses, while at 91000GMT, the FxWirePro's Hourly Pound Strength Index stood neutral at 15.26 (lower than the 75 benchmark for bullish trend). For more details, visit http://www.fxwirepro.com/currencyindex