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The release of better-than-expected UK retail sales figures helped sterling advance against the US dollar today.
The Confederation of British Industry revealed that its distributive trades balance rose to a reading of 3 in September, beating Reuters' expectations for a rise to -14 from -16 in August. The improvement in retail sales suggests that consumer spending remains healthy and that the economy is likely to be recovering. In the meantime, the Office for National Statistics upwardly revised its UK second-quarter GDP figures today; GDP was revised to show a contraction of 0.6% in the second quarter, better than a preliminary estimate showing a 0.7% contraction. The upward revision was almost entirely due to stronger estimates for domestic construction output.
