Release Explanation: Retail sales are a very important set of figures that make up a large percentage of consumer spending numbers. Retail sales are the measure of the total sales of goods and services by retail stores. Retail Sales is an important measure of consumer spending and inflationary pressures.
Trade Desk Thoughts: Retail sales in U.K. rose unexpectedly in January, for a second consecutive month. Between December and January, total sales volume increased by 0.7%.
Sales volume in predominantly food stores fell by 0.1%. Sales volume for predominantly non-food stores rose by 1.6%. Sales volume for the non-store retailing and repair sector decreased by 1.7% in January. The seasonally adjusted value of retail sales for the three months to January was 2.2% higher than in the same period a year earlier and the month of January 2009 was 2.4% than in January 2008.
Forex Technical Reaction: The pound had a strong reaction to the news release, spiking 40-pips. The pound had a very volatile European session, moving more than 100 pips.