Breaking: UK Retail Sales miss estimates with -18.1% in April, GBP/USD unfazed

The UK retail sales came in at -18.1% over the month in April vs. -16% expected and -5.1% previous. The core retail sales, stripping the auto motor fuel sales, stood at -15.2% MoM vs. -15% expected and -3.7% previous.          

On an annualized basis, the UK retail sales stood at -22.6% in April versus -22.2% expected and -5.8% prior while the core retail sales also dived -18.4% in the reported month versus -18.2% expectations and -4.1% previous.

Main points (via ONS)

“All sectors saw a monthly decline in volume sales except for a record increase in sales for non-store retailing at 18.0% and a continued increase in sales for alcohol stores at 2.3%.

The volume of clothing sales in April 2020 plummeted by 50.2% when compared with March 2020, which had already fallen by 34.9% on the previous month.

The proportion spent online soared to the highest on record in April 2020 at 30.7%, which compares with the 19.1% reported in April 2019.

All store types, except non-store, reached record proportions of online spending in April 2020 as some stores shifted to online only trading.

The three-month on three-month growth rate in the volume of retail sales decreased by 8.6%, with declines across all sectors except food and non-store retailing.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released a public statement on the coronavirus (COVID-19) and the production of statistics.”

FX implications

The pound keeps losses on the downbeat UK Retail Sales data, with GBP/USD heading towards 1.2200 levels, down 0.09% on the day.