In September, British retail sales unexpectedly rose for the third consecutive month, increasing by 0.3%, mainly driven by purchases of the new iPhone. This exceeded the 0.3% decline forecasted by economists and marked the highest sales volume since July 2022. The figures suggest that weakened consumer confidence in September, driven by concerns over expected tax rises in the October 30 Budget, is not feeding through to consumer spending. The news boosted the pound against the dollar and euro, while bond yields also increased slightly.