Investing.com - Retail sales in the U.K. rose in line with expectations in May, underlining optimism over the country’s economic outlook and supporting the case for higher interest rates, official data showed on Thursday.
In a report, the U.K. Office for National Statistics said retail sales increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month, in line with forecasts. Retail sales in April rose by 0.9%, whose figure was revised from a previously reported gain of 1.2%.
Year-on-year, retail sales increased at an annualized rate of 4.6% in May, below expectations for a 4.8% gain, after rising at a rate of 4.6% in April.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% last month, compared to forecasts for a 0.1% rise, after gaining 0.8% in March.
GBP/USD was trading at 1.5921 from around 1.5898 ahead of the release of the data, while EUR/GBP was at 0.7167 from 0.7176 earlier.
Meanwhile, European stock markets were mostly lower. London’s FTSE 100 shed 0.35%, the EURO STOXX 50 dipped 0.75%, France's CAC 40 declined 0.8%, while Germany's DAX slumped 0.9%.