Pound gets hammered after UK Retail Sales

The UK’s unexpected drop in November retail sales helped send the pound below $1.6100 for the first time since mid-October. Retail sales fell unexpectedly in November, down -0.3% m/m (+0.5% exp. That slowed the pace of growth on an annual basis to 3.1% y/y (3.7% expected. Part of the fall in the November data is payback for the increase in the October data which was revised to 0.6% m/m in October (from 0.4%) and 3.7% y/y in October (3.4% prior).