Pound Surges, Buoyed By Retail Sales And Brexit Hopes

Sterling added more than a cent to hit two-month highs on Thursday after forecast-beating UK retail sales data and amid growing optimism that Britain and the European Union are making progress at a summit of EU leaders towards a Brexit deal. British retail sales jumped 3.3 percent in August compared with the same month a year earlier, better than all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists, as shoppers maintained their strong summer spending spree. Sales rose by 0.3 percent in August from July, the Office for National Statistics said, defying a median forecast for a fall of 0.2 percent. The numbers follow other data showing the UK economy performed relatively well in recent months and that UK consumer prices in August rose at their fastest pace in six months. Read more at Reuters.