Halloween and colder weather lift retail sales in October

British retail sales grew at the fastest pace since 2002 in October,  helped by  colder weather and Halloween, official figures revealed on Thursday. According to the Office for National Statistics, total sales volumes rose 1.9% last month, following the preceding month's upwardly revised gain of 0.1% and surpassing the 0.5% increase forecast. On an annual basis, retail sales climbed 7.4% in October, posting the strongest pace since April 2002. The October figures provide further evidence that consumer confidence stays relatively intact after the Brexit vote. Retail sales data tend to be extremely volatile month-over-month; however, they grew 5.9% in the three months to October compared to a year ago. Clothing sales increased 5.1% on a monthly basis, the largest gain since March 2014. Nevertheless, earlier this week Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of England, said that prices  will rise markedly in the upcoming months amid the steep fall in the value of the Sterling. Moreover, the Bank of England now expects inflation to hit 2.7% next year. 

After the release, the British Pound  rose to $1.2507 before falling back to $1.2480. Against the Euro, it advanced to 85.77 before declining back to 85.93.