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The United Kingdom (UK) Retail Sales rose 0.4% month-over-month (MoM) in December after falling 0.1% in November, according to the latest data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday.
Markets projected a decrease of 0.1% in the reported month.
The core Retail Sales, stripping the auto motor fuel sales, increased 0.3% MoM in December, compared with the previous decline of 0.4% (revised from -0.2%). This figure came in above the market consensus of a 0.2% drop.
More to come…
This section below was published on January 23 at 5:11 GMT as a preview of the UK Retail Sales report.
The UK Retail Sales Overview
The United Kingdom (UK) docket has the Retail Sales data for December to be released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday, later this session at 07:00 GMT.
UK Retail Sales are expected to decline by 0.1% month-over-month (MoM) in December, following a 0.1% decline seen in November. On an annualized basis, Retail Sales are seen rising 1% during the reported month, inching higher from the previous increase of 0.6%.
Core Retail Sales, stripping the basket of motor fuel sales, are expected to fall 0.2% MoM, matching the prior decline, while YoY growth may rise to 1.4% from 1.2% in November.
How could the UK Retail Sales affect GBP/USD?
GBP/USD pair may remain silent even if UK Retail Sales data for December come stronger-than-expected, as the Bank of England (BoE) is widely expected to stay put on a gradual easing path, even as price pressures accelerated in December. Focus will be shifted toward the preliminary S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) data for January from the United Kingdom (UK) and the United States (US) due later in the day.
The GBP/USD pair may regain its ground as the US Dollar (USD) struggles with increased risk aversion, which could be attributed to the geopolitical tensions. US President Donald Trump initially threatened tariffs against European countries opposing his Greenland plan, but later backed down after securing a NATO framework agreement for a potential deal.
Technically, the GBP/USD pair remains steady after gaining more than 0.5% in the previous session, trading around 1.3500 at the time of writing. The pair may target the three-month high of 1.3562 as the next barrier. The immediate support lies at the nine-day Exponential Moving Average (EMA) of 1.3451, followed by the 50-day EMA at 1.3398.
