Data released by the United Kingdom’s Office of National Statistics (OSN) a few moments ago revealed a decline in retail sales in August by -0.9%, after declining by -2.8%, while expectations were for a rise of 0.5%.

In the details of the index, food sales fell by 1.2% in August, and sales of non-food stores decreased by 1%, driven by the decline in supermarkets -3.7 percent, and sports equipment and computer stores -1.2 percent. In contrast, car fuel sales rose by about 1.5 percent, and retail sales rose through Internet to 27.7%.

The British pound against the US dollar is trading before the opening of the European markets at 1.3791 levels.