Investing.com – Retail sales in the UK declined much more than expected in December, dampening optimism over the British economy, official data showed on Friday.
In a report, UK Office for National Statistics said that retail sales decreased by 1.5% in December from the prior month, compared to the previous 1.0% gain which was revised from an initial 1.1% rise.
Analysts had expected December’s reading to drop by just 0.6%.
Year-on-year, retail sales rose by 1.4% last month, less than half the forecast for a 3.0% increase and compared to November’s 1.5% advance which was a downward revision from the initial 1.6% gain.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales and fuel, fell by 1.6% in December, compared to the prior 1.1% advance which was revised down from an initial gain of 1.2%.
Economists had expected core retail sales to decline by just 0.8%.
Year-on-year, core retail sales gained 1.3% in December, missing expectations for a 3.0% increase and compared to the previous month’s 1.5% rise.
Following the report, GBP/USD traded at 1.3934 from around 1.3935 ahead of the release of the data, EUR/GBP was at 0.8818 from 0.8813 earlier, while GBP/JPY traded at 154.05 compared to 154.11 before the report.
Meanwhile, European stock markets traded mostly higher. London’s FTSE 100 edged forward 0.11%, the Euro Stoxx 50 gained 0.73%, France's CAC 40 traded up 0.50%, while Germany's DAX advanced 0.82%.