UK Retail Sales drop 3.2% MoM in December vs. -0.5% expected

• The UK Retail Sales fell 3.2% MoM in December, a big miss.
• Core Retail Sales for the UK dropped 3.3% MoM in December.
• GBP/USD keeps the red below 1.2700 on downbeat UK data.

The UK Retail Sales tumbled 3.2% over the month in December vs. -0.5% expected and 1.4% booked in November, according to the official data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Friday.

The Core Retail Sales, stripping the auto motor fuel sales, dropped 3.3% MoM vs. -0.6% expected and 1.5% seen in November.

The annual Retail Sales in the United Kingdom declined 2.4% in December versus 1.1% expected and November’s 0.2% growth while the Core Retail Sales decreased by 2.1% in the reported month versus 1.3% expectations and 0.5% previous.