The Great Britain pound climbed today as retail sales unexpectedly jumped this month, extending the unending stream of positive macroeconomic data from the United Kingdom.
The Confederation of British Industry high-street sales balance was at 34 percent in September, on an annual basis, up from 27 in August. Analysts have promised a drop to 24. Barry Williams, Asda Chief Merchandising Officer for Food, and Chair of the CBI Distributive Trades Survey Panel, said:
Itâs encouraging to see the high street on the road to recovery, with particularly strong growth from furniture & carpet retailers, department stores and recreational goods retailers. But the retail sector is not out of the woods yet with consumer confidence still fragile despite the rise in spending.
British fundamentals continue to look good and still support the sterling. Yet many economists are worried that the currency will struggle to sustain the rally that has started in summer.
GBP/USD jumped from 1.6001 to 1.6073 and GBP/JPY rose from 158.00 to 158.25 as of 23:34 GMT today. EUR/GBP slipped from 0.8417 to 0.8409.
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