Market Comment

UK retail sales drop by enormous 3.7% in December

This morning’s retail sales data for December show an enormous 3.7% decline on the month. Also, the GfK Consumer Confidence survey for January has fallen to its lowest level since February. The lifting of ‘plan B’ restrictions next week should help sentiment and sales. However, the GfK survey suggests UK households are now preparing themselves for both higher interest rates and energy prices pushing CPI inflation above 6%.

• Conall MacCoille
• Morning briefing
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