United Kingdom Retail Sales decline 0.5% MoM in July, as expected

Retail Sales, a key measure of consumer spending, in the United Kingdom (UK) declined 0.5% month-over-month (MoM) in July after rising by 0.7% in June (revised from 1.0%), the latest data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Friday.

The market forecast was for a 0.5% decline in the reported month.

The core Retail Sales, stripping the auto motor fuel sales, fell by 0.9% MoM in July, compared with the previous increase of 0.9% (revised from 1.1%) and the estimated -0.5% figure. 

The annual Retail Sales in the UK came in at 1.6% in July versus a rise of 3.8% prior (revised from 4.2%) and 2.2% expectations.

The annual core Retail Sales climbed 2.3% in the same month, against June’s 5.0% (revised from 5.4%). The reading came in below the consensus of 3.3%.

Market reaction to the UK Retail Sales report

The British Pound edges slightly lower in an initial reaction to the downbeat UK Retail Sales data. The GBP/USD pair is trading 0.11% higher on the day at 1.3645, as of writing.