The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Thursday that visits to "retail and recreation" declined by 12% over the past week, as reported by Reuters.

The ONS further noted that credit and debit card purchases decreased by 6% in the same period and added that online job adverts decreases across all parts of the UK compared to three weeks prior.

Market reaction

The GBP/USD pair showed no immediate reaction to this headline and was last seen losing 0.7% on the day at 1.2090. Meanwhile, the UK's FTSE 100 Index is down nearly 1.5% on a daily basis ahead of the Bank of England's (BOE) policy announcements.