Sterling is strong against the euro and the dollar this morning, despite the release of weaker than expected sales data. The pound appears to have shrugged off Brexit worries from the end of last week.
According to data from the Confederation of British Industry, the monthly retail sales balance fell to minus 6 in August. This was lower than the predicted figure of 8. The gauge measures the health of the retail sector and is compiled from a survey of about 150 retail and wholesale companies.
The decline was across sectors, with only grocers, furniture and carpets, non-store and ‘other’ goods sales seeing growth. In addition to this, the survey showed retail employment dropped at the fastest rate since February 2009.
There are no major data releases for the UK today, but Bank of England official, Andy Haldane, will make a speech later on the state of the economy and the BoE’s next moves on interest rates.
