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British Retail Volumes Fall; Brent Ends Higher

lite News Desk 1 min read

Retail sales volumes in Great Britain declined by 0.4% in September 2026, according to estimates from the Office for National Statistics. The monthly fall contrasted with growth over the July-to-September quarter, when volumes were 0.7% above their level in the preceding three months.

For August, the ONS revised its estimate of monthly volume growth to 0.7%, replacing the 0.5% increase previously published. September’s decline included lower sales in mail-order retail and supermarkets.

According to the ONS, online clothing retailers said warmer weather affected purchases from their autumn and winter collections. Supermarket sales declined in September following increases in both July and August.

In Canada, an advance estimate from Statistics Canada put September retail-sales growth at 0.7% in current-dollar terms. The agency classified that estimate as unofficial and subject to revision. Responses from 58.5% of the companies surveyed formed the basis of the preliminary figure.

The Canadian agency’s completed release for August recorded retail sales of C$74.6 billion, a monthly increase of 1.2%. Its measure of sales volume also rose by 1.2% that month.

Statistics Canada said its retail figures incorporate seasonal adjustments and, unless identified otherwise, measure sales in current dollars. For the volume measure, the agency uses consumer price indexes to adjust current-dollar sales. The preliminary September growth estimate therefore concerns the dollar value of sales, while the August release includes both dollar-value and volume results.

In oil markets, Friday’s settlement left Brent crude futures at $116.72 per barrel on October 23, 2026, according to Reuters. The daily gain amounted to $3.55, or 3.14%.

In comments quoted by Reuters, LPL Financial’s chief cross-asset strategist, Adam Turnquist, said the rise reflected fears of supply disruption following reported Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia. The reported targets included energy infrastructure.

* This article is based on publicly available information at the time of writing.

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