The Pound firmed against the Euro, US Dollar and other major peers on Friday after data showed that UK posted a budget surplus in January. Gains were restrained however as retail sales fell more than expected.
A report released by the Office for National Statistics showed that the UK had a budget surplus of £4.7 billion in the first month of 2014. The figure was below economist expectations for a surplus of £8 billion and was below the previous year’s amount of £6 billion.
A separate report showed that retail sales including fuel fell by 1.5% last month, a bigger decline than the 1% fall expected. Retail sales for December were also revised downward to 2.5% from 2.6%. Yearly sales also came in below forecasts with sales rising by 4.3% last month compared to expectations for a figure of 5%.
The report showed that food sales fell by 3.4% and sales of clothing, footwear and textiles dropped by 3.5%, the biggest decline seen since April 2012.
In contrast household goods stores are leading the sales revival among Britain’s retailers, with volumes up by 9.8% in the best monthly performance since 2007.
The data had little negative impact on the Pound as economists said that the outlook for the UK retail sector remains positive and that the reduction in sales was most likely due to the impact of the wet weather recorded in the month.
Current Pound Sterling (GBP) Exchange Rates:
[table width=”100%” colwidth=”50|50|50|50|50″ colalign=”left|left|left|left|left”]
Currency, ,Currency,Rate ,
Pound Sterling,
,US Dollar,1.6667 ,
Pound Sterling,,Euro,1.2156 ,
Pound Sterling,,Australian Dollar,1.8534 ,
Euro,,Canadian Dollar,1.5291 ,
[/table]
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