British retail sales rose in the first half of December at their fastest pace in six months as hefty pre-Christmas discounting lured in shoppers, according to a new Confederation of British Industry survey.
But economists cautioned that because the survey was only conducted between November 30 and December 15, it was too early to gauge the strength of the crucial holiday shopping period, where most retailers rake in the lion's share of their profits.
The CBI's distributive trades survey showed 53 percent of firms reported sales volumes were up on a year ago while 20 percent said they were down, giving a balance of +33 compared with +19 in the prior month.
The balance was well above the +15 analysts had forecast and the +9 that retailers had expected in November, triggering selling in interest rate futures as some dealers reckoned it might be too early to call a peak in British interest rates.
"I think the MPC (Monetary Policy Committee) will need to see the retail sales figures for January as well and look at the two months combined. But it suggests that consumer spending and retail sales held up better than was widely anticipated," said Mark Miller, economist at HBOS Treasury Services.
However, retailers were more downbeat about their business prospects for January. The balance for expected volume of sales fell to +8, its lowest reading since October.