Soft UK Retail Sales fail to deter British Pound buyers

Despite a sharper-than-forecast fall in UK Retail Sales in September, the British Pound advances.
A 0.4% contraction in UK Retail Sales exceeds the forecast decline of -0.1%.
At 2.1% YoY in September, Japan’s National CPI ex. Fresh Food matches expectations.

210.20 is within reach as the British Pound (GBP) strengthens against the Japanese Yen (JPY). The move follows the release of September Retail Sales figures for the United Kingdom (UK).

Pound Sterling: Today's Currency Performance

Today's percentage moves in the British Pound (GBP) against the major currencies listed appear in the table below. The Japanese Yen was the currency against which the British Pound performed best.

	USD	EUR	GBP	JPY	CAD	AUD	NZD	CHF
USD		0.03%	0.08%	0.20%	0.03%	0.00%	-0.17%	0.20%
EUR	-0.03%		0.05%	0.18%	-0.02%	-0.05%	-0.20%	0.17%
GBP	-0.08%	-0.05%		0.13%	-0.05%	-0.09%	-0.25%	0.12%
JPY	-0.20%	-0.18%	-0.13%		-0.17%	-0.21%	-0.38%	0.00%
CAD	-0.03%	0.02%	0.05%	0.17%		-0.02%	-0.21%	0.18%
AUD	-0.00%	0.05%	0.09%	0.21%	0.02%		-0.17%	0.21%
NZD	0.17%	0.20%	0.25%	0.38%	0.21%	0.17%		0.38%
CHF	-0.20%	-0.17%	-0.12%	-0.01%	-0.18%	-0.21%	-0.38%

Percentage movements between major currencies are displayed in the heat map. Select the base currency in the left-hand column and the quote currency in the top row. For instance, choosing the British Pound on the left and tracing its row across to the US Dollar gives the percentage movement for GBP (base)/USD (quote) in the intersecting cell.

TMGM Analysis: Financial Market News, Economic Calendar & Market Insights

A 0.4% month-on-month (MoM) fall in Retail Sales was reported by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), exceeding the expected 0.1% decline. This key consumer spending gauge had increased 0.7% in August, following an upward revision from 0.5%.

Annualised Retail Sales growth was a modest 0.8%, below the 1.5% forecast. The previous reading stood at 2.9%, revised upwards from 2.7%.

Hawkish expectations for the Bank of England (BoE) are highly likely to have supported sterling. Prospects for a BoE interest rate increase have emerged following September's hot UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures and strong labour market data for the three months ending in August.

Deutsche Bank said stronger inflation, together with earlier robust labour market readings, "helped to cement investor expectations for a BoE rate hike in November," as markets grow more convinced that policymakers will act at the next meeting.

The next focus for investors is October's preliminary UK S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), due for release at 08:30 GMT.

In Japan, September's National Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures showed stronger inflation. Excluding fresh food, National CPI increased 2.1% year-on-year (YoY), matching forecasts and accelerating from August's 1.8%. The August reading was itself revised upwards from 1.7%.

Economic Data Indicator

Retail Sales: MoM Change

Published monthly by the Office for National Statistics, Retail Sales tracks the volume of goods sold by retailers in Great Britain directly to end customers. Markets closely monitor changes in this measure as a gauge of consumer spending. Percentage movements show the rate of change in these sales; the MoM figure compares sales volumes in the reference month with those in the preceding month. A high reading is generally considered bullish for the Pound Sterling (GBP), whereas a low reading is considered bearish.

View further details.

Latest release: Fri 23 Oct 2026 06:00

Release frequency: Every month

Reported figure: -0.4%

Market consensus: -0.1%

Previous reading: 0.5%

Data source: Office for National Statistics