BULLET: MNI: UK Mar Retail Sales +1.1% m/m +6.7% y/y.........>

MNI: UK Mar Retail Sales +1.1% m/m +6.7% y/y

-UK Retail Sales Well Above Bbg Median of -0.3% m/m

-UK Q1 Sales +1.6%, to add 0.09pp to Q1 GDP

-UK Mar Retail ex-fuel +1.2% m/m; +6.2% y/y; +1.4% 3m/3m

-UK Feb Retail sales revised up 0.2pp to +0.6% m/m, +4.0% y/y

-UK Feb Ex-fuel sales revised up 0.2pp to +0.4% m/m, +3.8% y/y

-UK Mar Deflator +0.7% y/y vs +0.5% y/y in Feb; ex-fuel +0.4%

-UK Mar Internet sales values 19.0% of total vs 18.8% Feb

------------------------------------------------------------------------

The retail sector performed strongly in March, posting a third 

consecutive monthly rise and confounding market expectations for a dip 

on the month. The sector is set to add almost 0.1 percentage point to Q1 

growth, which adds to the evidence that the BOE's initial estimate of 

just 0.2% quarterly growth looks likely to be low.