Investing.com – Retail sales in the U.K. rose much more than expected last month and included upward revisions to April’s initial figures, bolstering optimism over the strength of the British economy despite concerns over the June 23 European Union referendum, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, U.K. Office for National Statistics said that retail sales rose 0.9% in May, compared to the prior 1.9% increase whose figure was revised from the original 1.3%.
Analysts had expected retail sales to rise only 0.2% last month.
Year-on-year, retail sales soared 6.0%, compared to April’s 5.2% gain which was revised from the initial reading of a 4.3% rise.
Consensus had forecast a 3.9% rise.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, rose 1.0% on the month, compared to the prior 2.0% gain in April whose figure was revised from an initial 1.5% increase.
Analysts had expected core retail sales to rise 0.3% last month.
Year-on- year, core retail sales rose 5.7% in May, compared to the previous month’s 4.8% increase (revised from a 4.2% gain) and compared to the consensus forecast for a 3.8% advance.
In an immediate reaction, the pound strengthened. GBP/USD traded at 1.4179 from around 1.4167 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7946 from 0.7951 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets traded lower. London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.63%, the Euro Stoxx 50 lost 1.17%, France’s CAC 40 traded down 0.91%, while Germany’s DAX shed 0.79%.