Market Focus

On Thursday, April 19, 2018, attention should be paid to the data on retail sales in the UK. Retail sales is an important indicator of consumer spending, which also characterizes consumer confidence and is seen as an indicator of the pace of development of the UK economy.

According to the forecast, the volume of retail sales in March rose by 0.2%, against the growth of the previous month at 0.8%, on an annualized basis, the indicator will be 1.1%, against the previous value of 1.5%. The base retail sales index fell by -1.7% in March, versus February’s 0.6%. On annualized basis, the growth of 2.0%, which is 1.1% higher than the previous value. The release of data within the forecast will put pressure on the pound, against which one should expect the decline of the British currency within 40-50 points against the competitors.

Alexander Sivtsov