Investing.com - U.K. retail sale volumes in October was unchanged from a month earlier, underlining optimism over the health of the country’s economy, industry data showed on Monday.
In a report, the Confederation of British Industry said the result of its index of U.K. retailers held steady at 31.0 this month. Analysts had expected the index to fall by 6.0 points to 25.0 in October.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates higher sales volume, below indicates lower.
Grocers and the clothing sector in particular saw an acceleration in sales growth. However a fall in sales was reported in other sectors, including hardware & DIY and specialist food & drink.
Elsewhere, wholesaling sales continued to grow robustly in the year to October and volumes are expected to rise strongly again next month.
Rain Newton-Smith, CBI Director of Economics, said, “The clothing sector in particular appears to be bouncing back after the mild weather in September deterred people from buying their winter warmers.”
GBP/USD was trading at 1.6105 from around 1.6102 ahead of the announcement, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7866 from 0.7868 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were lower. London’s FTSE 100 shed 0.25%, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 declined 0.7%, France’s CAC 40 slumped 0.45%, while Germany's DAX dropped 0.45%.