Investing.com – Retail sales in the UK rose more than expected in October, bolstering optimism over the British economy, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, UK Office for National Statistics said that retail sales increased by 0.3% in October from the prior month, compared to the previous 0.7% decline which was revised from an initial 0.8% drop.
Analysts had expected October’s reading to advance by only 0.1%.
Year-on-year, retail sales decreased by 0.3% last month, better than forecasts for a 0.6% contraction and compared to September’s 1.3% advance (1.2% before revision).
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales and fuel, increased by 0.1% in October, compared to the prior 0.6% drop which was revised up from an initial decrease of 0.7%.
The increase was in line with forecasts.
Year-on-year, core retail sales fell 0.3% in October, compared to the previous month’s 1.6% increase and narrowly beat expectations for a 0.4% decline.
Following the report, GBP/USD traded at 1.3166 from around 1.3161 ahead of the release of the data, EUR/GBP was at 0.8942 from 0.8949 earlier, while GBP/JPY traded at 149.06 compared to 148.96 before the report.
Meanwhile, European stock markets traded mostly higher. London’s FTSE 100 edged forward 0.05%, the Euro Stoxx 50 gained 0.53%, France's CAC 40 rose 0.65%, while Germany's DAX advanced 0.62%.