Investing.com – Retail sales in the U.K. declined more than expected in May after the prior month was bolstered by good weather that included Easter, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, U.K. Office for National Statistics said that retail sales fell 1.2% in May from the prior month, compared to the previous 2.5% gain which was revised from an initial 2.3% advanced.
Analysts had expected May’s reading to decline by just 0.8%.
Year-on-year, retail sales increased 0.9% last month, compared to forecasts for growth of 1.7%. April’s reading was upwardly revised to 4.2% from the initial 4.0% jump.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales and fuel, decreased by 1.6% in May, compared to the prior 2.2% increase which was revised up from an initial rise of 2.0%.
Analysts had expected core retail sales to fall by just 0.8% last month.
Year-on-year, core retail sales rose 0.6% in May, compared to the previous month’s 4.6% increase (initially 4.5%) and the consensus forecast for a 1.9% advance.
Following the report, the pound moved lower. GBP/USD traded at 1.2712 from around 1.2709 ahead of the release of the data, EUR/GBP was at 0.8800 from 0.8798 earlier, while GBP/JPY traded at 139.32 compared to 139.26 before the report.
Meanwhile, European stock markets traded lower. London’s FTSE 100 fell 0.61%, the Euro Stoxx 50 lost 0.86%, France's CAC 40 traded down 0.85%, while Germany's DAX shed 0.51%.