Investing.com - U.K. retail sale volumes fell sharply in March, one month after rising to the highest level since the summer of 2012, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, the Confederation of British Industry said the result of its index of U.K. retailers tumbled by 24.0 points to a reading of 13.0 this month from 37.0 in February.
Analysts had expected the index to decline by 9.0 point to 28.0 in March.
On the index, a reading above 0.0 indicates higher sales volume, below indicates lower.
Grocers’ sales grew solidly, but at the slowest rate in four months and, along with falling sales in non-specialized stores, such as department stores, this contributed to overall slower annual growth in March.
Sales are expected to pick up again in the year to April and if realised, this will bring the growth rate back into line with February, which was the strongest seen since the onset of the financial crisis.
Barry Williams, Chair of the CBI Distributive Trades Survey Panel said, “The pace of growth has slowed, likely in part down to the later timing of Mother’s Day and Easter this year – conversely, this is the same reason many retailers are looking forward to more robust growth next month.”
Following the release of that data, the pound held on to mild gains against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD advancing 0.04% to trade at 1.6505.
Meanwhile, European stock markets remained higher. London’s FTSE 100 climbed 1%, the DJ Euro Stoxx 50 rose 1%, France’s CAC 40 tacked on 1.1%, while Germany's DAX rallied 1.2%.