Soft UK Retail Sales figures fail to deter bids for the British Pound

The British Pound advances despite a sharper-than-forecast fall in UK Retail Sales in September.
Against a forecast of -0.1%, UK Retail Sales record a contraction of 0.4%.
At 2.1% YoY in September, the rise in Japan’s National CPI ex. Fresh Food matches expectations.

The British Pound (GBP) advances towards 210.20 against the Japanese Yen (JPY), with the move following the release of September Retail Sales figures from the United Kingdom (UK).

How Is Pound Sterling Performing Today?

The British Pound (GBP) recorded its strongest performance against the Japanese Yen today. Its percentage changes against the major currencies listed are shown in the table below.

	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 the 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, selecting the British Pound on the left and following its row across to the US Dollar gives the percentage change for GBP (base)/USD (quote) in the corresponding cell.

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

Retail Sales, a key gauge of consumer spending, fell by a sharper-than-expected 0.4% Month-on-Month (MoM), according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), compared with an estimated decline of 0.1%. The August reading showed growth of 0.7%, following an upward revision from 0.5%.

Annualised Retail Sales growth was a modest 0.8%, below expectations of 1.5%. The previous reading stood at 2.9%, having been revised upwards from 2.7%.

Support for the British currency is highly likely to have come from hawkish expectations for the Bank of England (BoE). Prospects of a BoE interest rate hike have been fuelled by September’s elevated UK Consumer Price Index (CPI) reading and strong labour market figures for the three months ending in August.

Markets are increasingly convinced that policymakers will act at the next meeting. Deutsche Bank said stronger inflation, together with the earlier robust labour market figures, "helped to cement investor expectations for a BoE rate hike in November,"

Investor attention now turns to October’s preliminary UK S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) figures, due at 08:30 GMT.

In Japan, September’s National Consumer Price Index (CPI) figures showed stronger inflation. Excluding fresh food, National CPI increased by 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%.

Key Economic Release

Retail Sales (MoM)

Published monthly by the Office for National Statistics, Retail Sales measures the volume of goods sold by retailers in Great Britain directly to end customers. The figures are closely tracked as a gauge of consumer spending. Percentage movements indicate the rate at which these sales change, while the MoM figure compares sales volumes in the reference month with those in the preceding month. A high reading is generally regarded as positive for Pound Sterling (GBP); a low reading is typically viewed as negative.

View further details.

Latest release: Fri 23 October 2026 06:00

Release frequency: Monthly

Reported figure: -0.4%

Consensus estimate: -0.1%

Prior reading: 0.5%

Data source: Office for National Statistics