Stock market today: S&P 500 slumps as Trump tariff blitz triggers bloodbath
Investing.com - U.K. retail sales rose strongly in April, with the country’s consumers continuing to spend even in the face of rising prices, likely reflecting the impact of falling interest rates and an easing of global trade tensions.
Retail sales rose by a healthy 5.0% on an annual basis, having increased by revised 1.9% in March.
On a monthly basis, retail sales rose by whopping 1.2% last month, a surge from the revised gain of 0.1% in March, according to data released by the Office of National Statistics data earlier Friday.
Economists had predicted that retail sales, which mostly reflect goods and are not adjusted for inflation, would gain by 0.3% monthly, and by 4.5% on an annual basis.
Data released overnight showed that Britain’s consumers turned a bit more confident in May. Market research firm GfK’s consumer confidence index rose to -20 in May from -23 in April, led by more optimism among households over the outlook for their finances and the wider economy.
Neil Bellamy, consumer insights director at GfK, said consumers may have breathed a sigh of relief from the Bank of England’s May 8 interest rate cut, as well from a partial respite in President Donald Trump’s US trade war.
"Those dangers - especially the issue of inflation – have not disappeared but the consumer mood in the U.K. does appear to have improved a little," Bellamy said.
U.K. inflation jumped by more than expected last month to 3.5%, its highest rate in more than a year, from 2.6% in March, after substantial increases in water bills, energy costs and council tax.