UK retail sales contracted sharply in December. Headline sales dropped -0.8% mom versus expectation of 0.8% rise. Ex-fuel sales dropped -0.6% mom versus expectation of 0.5% rise. “Anecdotal evidence from a number of stores stated that goods did not sell as well as expected,” the ONS said.
In the three months to December, both the amount spent and quantity bought decline, by -0.9% and -1.0% respectively. More importantly, from three-month to three-month respectively, sales hasn’t grown since October.
