The pound declined for the fourth time in five days versus the dollar after a report showed U.K. retail sales unexpectedly fell in October. Sterling was little changed versus the euro. U.K. sales including fuel dropped 0.7 percent from September, when they rose 0.6 percent, the Office for National Statistics said today in London. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey was for no growth. Britain’s currency climbed yesterday after the Bank of England signaled policy makers would consider increasing interest rates sooner than they previously forecast as the economy improves. U.K. government bonds were little changed. The pound fell 0.3 percent to $1.6003 at 10:01 a.m. London time. Sterling was at 83.99 pence per euro after appreciating 0.6 percent yesterday. The U.K. currency gained 3.4 percent in the past three months, the best performer among 10 developed-market counterparts tracked by Bloomberg Correlation-Weighted Indexes. The euro climbed 1.4 percent, while the dollar slid 0.2 percent. The benchmark 10-year gilt yielded 2.79 percent after rising to 2.85 percent yesterday, the highest level since Oct. 16. The price of the 2.25 percent bond maturing in September 2023 was 95.355. Gilts lost 3.4 percent this year through yesterday, according to Bloomberg World Bond Indexes. German bonds fell 1.3 percent and U.S. Treasuries declined 2.6 percent. To contact the reporter on this story: Emma Charlton in London at echarlton1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Dobson at pdobson2@bloomberg.net

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