- The UK Retail Sales fell 3.2% MoM in December, a big miss.
- Core Retail Sales for the UK dropped 3.3% MoM in December.
- GBP/USD keeps the red below 1.2700 on downbeat UK data.
The UK Retail Sales tumbled 3.2% over the month in December vs. -0.5% expected and 1.4% booked in November, according to the official data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday.
The Core Retail Sales, stripping the auto motor fuel sales, dropped 3.3% MoM vs. -0.6% expected and 1.5% seen in November.
The annual Retail Sales in the United Kingdom declined 2.4% in December versus 1.1% expected and November’s 0.2% growth while the Core Retail Sales decreased by 2.1% in the reported month versus 1.3% expectations and 0.5% previous.
Main points (via ONS)
Retailers say part of fall reflects consumers purchasing food and Xmas gifts in December.
Retail sales likely to subtract 0.04 pct points from Q4 GDP.
Market reaction to UK Retail Sales report
GBP/USD is keeping its renewed downside intact near 1.2685 on the downbeat UK Retail Sales data. The spot is down 0.17% on the day.
Pound Sterling price today
The table below shows the percentage change of Pound Sterling (GBP) against listed major currencies today. Pound Sterling was the weakest against the Euro.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | -0.01% | 0.22% | 0.05% | 0.11% | 0.28% | 0.40% | 0.03% | |
| EUR | 0.01% | 0.21% | 0.07% | 0.09% | 0.31% | 0.40% | 0.04% | |
| GBP | -0.22% | -0.22% | -0.15% | -0.12% | 0.08% | 0.18% | -0.18% | |
| CAD | -0.06% | -0.07% | 0.14% | 0.01% | 0.22% | 0.32% | -0.04% | |
| AUD | -0.10% | -0.10% | 0.15% | -0.05% | 0.18% | 0.30% | -0.07% | |
| JPY | -0.27% | -0.27% | -0.06% | -0.22% | -0.16% | 0.10% | -0.23% | |
| NZD | -0.36% | -0.38% | -0.13% | -0.31% | -0.26% | -0.07% | -0.33% | |
| CHF | 0.00% | 0.02% | 0.22% | 0.05% | 0.09% | 0.30% | 0.39% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).
Source: https://www.fxstreet.com/news/uk-retail-sales-drop-32-mom-in-december-vs-05-expected-202401190703