The latest retail sales data has shown a larger than expected drop in month-on-month terms with a decline of 1.5%. The data for December comes in sharply below the 1.1% increase seen previously and suggests that the final month of 2017 failed to offer as big of a festive bump as was hoped. Individual retailers have already reported mixed results over the key Christmas period with M&S and Debenhams (LON:DEB) disappointing whilst supermarkets such as Tesco (LON:TSCO), Aldi and Lidl all excelled.
The pound has fallen lower on the news with the FX rate against the US dollar pulling back form it’s post-Brexit vote highs seen on Wednesday around 1.3940. The pair has dropped back close to the 1.39 handle following the release and given the large gains seen over the past week there could be further downside ahead.