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. unexpectedly rose in December, coming in at 1.6%. However, the release data is not seasonally adjusted, as it was in the previous releases due to ”exceptional trading conditions”.
The increase was driven by sales of the non-store retailing and repair sector (which includes specialist internet retailers), and by predominantly non-food stores. The strongest growth in this sub-sector was within household goods stores, which grew by 3.0 per cent.
Forex Technical Reaction: The pound had a very strong reaction to the news release, making a 100-pip candle. Since the Asian session started, the pound is down 300 pips, breaking below a 23-year old low. Against the yen, the pound also trades near the lowest value in history.