20 Jul 2017
UK: Strong retail sales data - BBH
Analysts at BBH explain that the UK reported stronger than expected retail sales data, which excluding auto fuel rose 0.9%, nearly twice the median forecast from the Bloomberg survey.
Key Quotes
“This follows a revised 1.5% decline in May (from -1.6%). Last month was the hottest June in more than 30 years, and this spurred strong demand for summer clothing. The underlying concern that higher prices and slowing wage growth will sap the purchasing power of households has not been alleviated by today's report. Next week, the UK reports the first estimate for Q2 GDP. After slowing to 0.2% in Q1 from 0.7% in Q4 16, many expect the UK economy to have grown 0.3% in Q2.”