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UK Retail Sales jump 0.4% MoM in March vs. -0.4% expected

  • The UK Retail Sales rose 0.4% MoM in March, a positive surprise.
  • Monthly core Retail Sales for the UK jumped 0.5% in March.
  • GBP/USD keeps range near 1.3280 after upbeat UK consumer data.

The United Kingdom (UK) Retail Sales jumped 0.4% month-over-month (MoM) in March after advancing 0.7% in February, the latest data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Friday. Markets expected a 0.4% drop in the reported month.

The core Retail Sales, stripping the auto motor fuel sales, rose 0.5% MoM, compared to the previous revised growth of 0.7% and the estimated -0.3% reading.

The annual Retail Sales in the UK rose 2.6% in March versus February’s 2.2%, while the core Retail Sales also grew 3.3% in the same month versus 1.8% previous revision. Both readings outpaced market expectations.

Market reaction to UK Retail Sales report

GBP/USD is little impressed by the upbeat UK data, trading 0.43% lower on the day at 1.3280 as of writing.

British Pound PRICE Today

The table below shows the percentage change of British Pound (GBP) against listed major currencies today. British Pound was the weakest against the US Dollar.

USDEURGBPJPYCADAUDNZDCHF
USD0.51%0.45%0.73%0.22%0.24%0.53%0.67%
EUR-0.51%-0.08%0.24%-0.31%-0.27%0.01%0.14%
GBP-0.45%0.08%0.31%-0.22%-0.21%0.08%0.18%
JPY-0.73%-0.24%-0.31%-0.52%-0.51%-0.25%-0.12%
CAD-0.22%0.31%0.22%0.52%-0.07%0.30%0.41%
AUD-0.24%0.27%0.21%0.51%0.07%0.29%0.39%
NZD-0.53%-0.01%-0.08%0.25%-0.30%-0.29%0.11%
CHF-0.67%-0.14%-0.18%0.12%-0.41%-0.39%-0.11%

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 British Pound from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent GBP (base)/USD (quote).

Author

Dhwani Mehta

Dhwani Mehta

FXStreet

Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.

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UK Retail Sales jump 0.4% MoM in March vs. -0.4% expected