Pound Jumps as Retail Sales Signal Post-Brexit Economic Optimism
- Sterling rises to two-week high versus dollar after data
- Currency also benefiting from weaker greenback on Fed minutes
U.K. Data Shock Finds Market Short Sterling
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The pound rose to a two-week high on an unexpected surge in U.K. retail sales in the month after the nation voted to leave the European Union.
Sterling climbed versus all of its Group-of-10 peers after the report from the Office for National Statistics suggested the hot summer is outweighing longer-term concerns over the U.K.’s fortunes outside the world’s biggest trading bloc. The July sales figures follow other post-Brexit numbers that have beaten analyst expectations this week, helping to boost the pound.