UK Retail Sales Post a Positive Reading For The First Time in 4 Months

Data from the Office for National Statistics in Britain revealed that retail sales grew more than market expectations and posted a positive reading for the first time in 4 months at the end of last October.

The retail sales index recorded a growth of 0.8%, compared to market expectations of growth of about 0.5% only. The British retail sales index contracted by 0.2% at the end of last September.

It is reported that the retail sales index measures the change in the total value of inflation-adjusted sales at the retail level, and this index is a measure of the value of goods sold by retailers based on a sample of retail stores of various types and sizes, and the data includes all sales made from through the Internet.

A higher reading than expected is positive for the sterling’s movements, but if the reading is lower than expected it negatively affects the sterling’s movements.