According to the Office for National Statistics, the U.K. retail sales showed a decline in February 2016. Nevertheless, the pace of this decline turned out to be lower than expected. To be more specific, the retail sales dropped only by 0,4% over the reporting period relative to the previous one. For the sake of comparison, January’s figures indicated a 2.3% increase relative to December 2015. In the meantime, analysts had anticipated an even bigger drop all the way down to 0.7%. With that being said, the forecast failed.
It is also important to mention that the sales varied from group to group, Market Leader reports. While food stores saw their sales decline by 0.3%, other stores showed better performance – only a 0.1% sales drop over the same reporting period.
Excluding the sales of gasoline and diesel, the retail sales showed a drop by 0.2% after January’s increase by as much as 2.3%. The actual figures also turned out to be better than expected. However, this time the difference was only 0.1%.
FOREX
In the meantime, Masterforex-V Academy reports that the British Pound is still retracing against the U.S. Dollar. To be more specific, the experts say that GBPUSD has completed a bearish wave – wave A/B of level Daily.
On breaking below the 1.4056 low, the price is going to increase the wave level of wave A/B. The closest levels of support are 1.4052 and 1.3835. Alternatively, a break above MF pivot 1.4514, and the top of the descending MF sloping channel is going to start a new rally – wave А/В with the potential of level Weekly or higher. If that’s the case, the price may encounter resistance around 1.4570, 1.4668.
