BUSINESS LIVE: Consumer confidence improves as retail sales grow
BUSINESS LIVE: Consumer confidence improves as retail sales grow
By Live Commentary
Updated:
The FTSE 100 will open at 8am. Among the companies with reports and trading updates today are Zegona, Compass Group, Mothercare, Investec, and Home REIT. Read the Friday 22 September Business Live blog below.
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‘The UK economy appears to in reasonable shape given everything that is being thrown at it’
Neil Birrell, chief investment officer at Premier Miton investors:
‘UK retail sales figures for August came in much as expected which will please the Bank of England after its decision to keep interest rates unchanged yesterday.
‘With inflation coming in below expectations earlier in the week, strong consumer spending would not have been welcome.
‘The UK economy appears to in reasonable shape given everything that is being thrown at it and sharp eyes will remain on the data as we monitor the impact of all the interest rate increases we have seen.’
Consumer confidence improves as retail sales grow
Fresh data shows UK consumer confidence has improved to its strongest since the start of 2022, while separate figures show retail sales ticked higher last month thanks to better weather conditions.
The GfK consumer sentiment indicator rose for a second month in a row to -21 in September, the highest since January last year, from -25 in August although it remained below the average of -10 for the survey, which has been running since 1974.
Economists had forecast a fall to -27.
Meanwhile data from the Office for National Statistics shows UK retail sales grew 0.4 per cent in August, just missing forecasts of 0.5 per cent growth.
