Pound sterling continues downward trend after disappointing UK retail sales figures

Statisticians blamed the Beast from the East for retail sales drop

Sterling was hit by inflation figures on Wednesday (Reuters)

The pound dropped 0.25 per cent against the dollar on Thursday morning after a bigger-than-expected dip in UK retail sales.

Sterling also fell 0.16 per cent against the euro to hit €1.1458 as it continued its decline which began on Wednesday after inflation undershot expectations.

The downward direction of the pound comes days after it hit a post-Brexit vote high of $1.436 ahead of wage and employment data released on Tuesday.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: “The pound was under pressure yesterday after the UK inflation rate slowed by more than expected, and it is likely sterling will suffer again today.”

Commenting on the retail sales figures, ONS senior statistician, Rhian Murphy said the reduction was “due to a large decline in March with petrol sales seeing a significant slump as a result of the poor weather keeping many shoppers indoors.

However, she added: “The snow actually helped boost online spending with department stores in particular seeing growth in their web sales.”