Investing.com – Retail sales in the U.K. grew more than expected in February, bolstering optimism over the British economy, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, U.K. Office for National Statistics said that retail sales increased 1.4% in February from the prior month, compared to the previous decline of 0.5% which was revised from a previous drop of 0.3%.
Analysts had expected February’s reading to rise by 0.4%.
Year-on-year, retail sales increased 3.7% last month, compared to forecasts for growth of 2.6% and January’s 1.0% advance which was revised from the initial reading of a 1.5% gain.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales and fuel, increased by 1.3% in February, compared to the prior 0.3% decline which was revised from an initial drop of 0.02%.
Analysts had expected core retail sales to rise by 0.4% last month.
Year-on-year, core retail sales rose 4.1% in February, compared to the previous month’s 2.1% increase (initially 2.6%) and the consensus forecast for 3.1% advance.
In an immediate reaction, GBP/USD traded at 1.2516 from around 1.2473 ahead of the release of the data, EUR/GBP was at 0.8610 from 0.8643 earlier, while GBP/JPY traded at 139.10 compared to 138.55 before the report.
Meanwhile, European stock markets traded mixed. London’s FTSE 100 lost 0.14%, the Euro Stoxx 50 dropped 0.07%, France's CAC 40 fell 0.14%, while Germany's DAX gained 0.15%.