UK: Retail sales volumes drops at fastest pace since 2008 - CBI

• CBI Distributive Trades Survey shows a drop of 49% in retail sales volumes.
• British pound starts erasing its gains against dollar on disappointing data.

According to the Confederation of British Industry's latest Distributive Trades Survey, retailers in the UK expect the sharpest deterioration in business conditions in more than ten years. With the initial market reaction, the GBP/USD pair started to erase its daily gains and was last seen trading at 1.2128, virtually unchanged on the day.

"Whilst retail sales volumes and orders both fell at their fastest since December 2008 in the year to August, sales were only slightly below average for the time of year, and to the least extent in four months," the CBI said in its press release.

"10% of respondents reported that sales volumes were up on a year ago in August, while 58% said they were down, giving a balance of -49%."

Commenting on the data, Anna Leach, CBI Deputy Chief Economist, noted that the business confidence weakened sharply amid the heightened concerns over a potential no-deal Brexit.