Wet February dampens retail sales amid Middle East conflict threat to confidence

Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “UK retail sales painted a fairly flat picture for February, with the latest BRC data describing it as a decidedly “grey” month for the high street.

“Total sales rose just 1.1 per cent, driven largely by food inflation (+2.9 per cent), while non-food slipped back by 0.4 per cent with both in-store (+0.2 per cent) and online (-1.3 per cent) channels struggling to gain momentum.

“February is typically a quieter trading period, but from March, investors will be watching closely for the first signs of how the conflict in the Middle East begins to filter through into consumer behaviour and discretionary spending.”