UK retail sales return to growth amid economic reopening optimism – BRC
The optimism heading into the gradual re-opening of the economy drove the UK retail spending into the positive territory in February, a survey conducted by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) trade body showed on Tuesday.
Key findings
“It’s a measure of overall retail spending at major retail chains rose by 1.0% in February compared with the same month last year, faster than the average growth rate of 0.6% in the past three months.”
“Over the three months to February, total food sales increased 7.9% but sales of non-food items fell by 5.5%.”
Paul Martin, UK head of retail at accountants KPMG which produces the survey with the BRC, noted: "Conditions will continue to be incredibly challenging as they face subdued demand, thinner margins and rising logistics costs, alongside the accelerated structural changes to the sector.”
Separately, a survey conducted by payment card firm Barclaycard revealed that confidence in the economy hit a 12-month high in February.
Consumer spending was 13.8% lower than a year before, similar to January's plunge of around 16%, Barclaycard said.
Market reaction
GBP/USD has flipped to gains and rebounds to 1.3835, at the time of writing. The spot is 0.07% higher on the day, thanks to a pause in the US dollar rally amid a retreat in the Treasury yields.
Author
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.
