Official data showed earlier that U.K. retail sales declined month-on-month in October, although shops continue to reduce prices. The pound was little changed after the data release.
The Office for National Statistics reported that retail sales volumes fell by 0.6% compared with September, while the amount spend dipped by 0.7%. Analysts had expected a decline of 0.5% last month.
Year-on-year, retail sales rose at an annualized rate of 3.8% in October, below expectations for a 4.2% gain, after rising at a rate of 6.2% in September.
Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, dropped by a seasonally adjusted 0.9% last month, below forecasts for a 0.5% decline and following a gain of 1.5% in September.
Food, textiles and clothing were the biggest drag on sales, the ONS noted. That suggests consumers may be cutting back ahead of Christmas, with the unusually warm autumn meaning less demand for warm clothes.
The report also indicated that prices have been steadily declining in recent months, pulling down the cost of living.
GBP/USD was little changed at 1.5264, up 0.2%, while EUR/GBP was still up 0.02% at 0.7000.
