UK retail sales fell by 1.4% in March, compared to a decline of about 0.5% in February’s revised reading of 0.3%, while it was expected to decline by about 0.3%.
The largest contribution to the decline in March came from retail trade outside stores, which fell by 7.9% in March, while sales of food stores also declined by 1.1%, and non-food stores decreased by 1.3%, while sales of motor fuels declined by 3.8%.
The British pound is trading down more than 100 pips this morning, Friday, at 1.2900 levels, affected by these numbers in addition to the strong rises of the US dollar.