UK businesses report strong trade after lockdown reopening - FT

UK businesses have reported upbeat trading last week as they reopened after three months of lockdown, the Financial Times (FT) reports, citing economists who note that the unofficial data confirm forecasts of a strong rebound in the second quarter.

Additional takeaways

“In the first three days after the reopening, visits to retail and entertainment venues jumped to within 24 percent of January’s 2020 average levels, up from 50 percent below in the week before, according to Google mobility data, which points to a sharper recovery than after the first lockdown.”

“A similar picture for the retail sector was presented by statistics from consultancy Springboard, which showed that footfall last week across all UK retail destinations was 25 percent lower than in the same week of 2019.”

“In the first three days after the reopening, consumer spending was up 10 percent compared with the same days of that week in 2019, up from nearly minus 30 percent in the week ending April 11, according to Fable Data, a company that tracks credit card transactions. In the same three days, retail spending rose to 43 percent above the level of the same period in 2019, Fable Data showed.”

Market reaction

GBP/USD is keeping its range around 1.4000, benefiting from the broad US dollar’s decline and the encouraging UK fundamentals. The spot was last seen trading at 1.3994, up 0.10% on the day.