Investing.com – Retail sales in the U.K. posted a larger increase than expected in July, bouncing back from what had been its biggest decline in six months and suggesting that British consumers were taking the U.K.’s decision to leave the European Union in stride, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, U.K. Office for National Statistics said that retail sales rose 1.4% in June, compared to the prior 0.9% decline. That was its biggest jump since January.
Analysts had expected retail sales to increase 0.2% last month.
Year-on-year, retail sales increased 5.9%, compared to June’s 4.3% gain which was revised from the initial reading of a 4.3% gain.
Consensus had forecast a 4.2% rise.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, gained 1.5% on the month, compared to the prior 0.9% drop in June.
Analysts had expected core retail sales to increase 0.4% last month.
Year-on-year, core retail sales rose 5.4% in July, compared to the previous month’s 3.9% increase and compared to the consensus forecast for another 3.9% advance.
In an immediate reaction, the pound extended gains. GBP/USD traded at 1.3154 from around 1.3061 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.8610 from 0.8661 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets traded higher. London’s FTSE 100 gained 0.27%, the Euro Stoxx 50 rose 0.21%, France's CAC 40 traded up 0.23%, while Germany's DAX advanced 0.41%.