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, Profi-Forex.pro 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.
