The Pound is looking confident. Overview for 18.02.2022

The statistics help GBPUSD to keep its positive momentum.  

The British Pound continues rising against the USD on Friday. The current quote for the instrument is 1.3622.

The statistics published earlier today showed that Retail Sales in the United Kingdom added 1.9% m/m in January after losing 4.0% m/m in the previous month and against the expected growth of 1.1% m/m. 

On YoY, the indicator expanded by 9.1% against the expected reading of 8.7%.

The components of the report show that the biggest contribution was made by non-food stores sales (3.4%, household goods, garden centres, lighting and electrical goods) and sales of automotive fuel (+4.1% after -5.0% in December). The reason is simple – the Brits are back to their normal lifestyle, commuting to work, eating out in cafes and restaurants, and visiting malls.  

The interesting fact is that food store sales fell 2.3% and were below pre-coronavirus levels for the first time. In we compare January 2020 and 2022, the indicator dropped 0.8%. 

At the same time, one should admit that increased consumption is an excellent signal for the British economy. If households started spending money, it means that the coronavirus stress ran out of steam.