The UK Retail Sales came in at +3.6% MoM in July.
Core Retail Sales for the UK jumped 2.0% MoM in July.
The cable challenges high near 1.2450 on the upbeat UK Retail Sales data.
The UK retail sales came in at +3.6% over the month in July vs. +2.0% expected and +13.9% previous. The core retail sales, stripping the auto motor fuel sales, stood at +2.0% MoM vs. +0.2% expected and +13.5% previous.
On an annualized basis, the UK retail sales stood at +1.4% in July versus 0.0% expected and -1.6% prior while the core retail sales also rose to +3.1% in the reported month versus +1.5% expectations and +1.7% previous.
Main points (via ONS)
In July, the volume of food store sales and non-store retailing remained at high sales levels, despite monthly contractions in these sectors at negative 3.1% and 2.1% respectively.
In July, fuel sales continued to recover from low sales levels but were still 11.7% lower than February; recent analysis shows that car road traffic in July was around 17 percentage points lower compared with the first week in February, according to data from the Department for Transport.
Clothing store sales were the worst hit during the pandemic and volume sales in July remained 25.7% lower than February, even with a July 2020 monthly increase of 11.9% in this sector.
Online retail sales fell by 7.0% in July when compared with June, but the strong growth experienced over the pandemic has meant that sales are still 50.4% higher than February’s pre-pandemic levels.
FX implications
Despite the upbeat data, GBP/USD fails to extend the run-up. However, the bulls and bears jostle around the intraday high of 1.3250 following the update
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