Breaking - Retail sales data in Britain defies expectations and shows growth in February.

On Friday morning, the Office for National Statistics in the UK released the retail sales report for the country during February, which showed positive data that contradicted market expectations. According to the data, retail sales grew by 1% month-on-month in February, while markets had anticipated a contraction of 0.3% in retail sales. British retail sales had recorded a growth of 1.7% in the previous January, which was revised down to a lower growth of 1.4%. On a year-over-year basis, the retail sales index achieved a growth of 2.2% in February compared to the same month of the previous year, which was better than expectations that suggested the index would grow by only 0.5%. The retail sales had recorded a rise of 0.6% in January, after being revised from a growth of 1%. The index measures the change in the total value of inflation-adjusted sales at the retail level and serves as a measure of the value of goods sold by retailers based on a sample of retail stores of various types and sizes. The data includes all sales made through the internet. A reading higher than expected is positive for the movements of the British pound, but if the reading is below expectations, it will negatively impact the pound's movements. It is also considered a key gauge of consumer spending, which represents the majority of economic activity overall; an increase in retail sales indicates more spending and the index reading illustrates the trend in retail sales and the demand for specific types over others.